Biosphere 2 A Planet Away from Home

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It's More Fun than a Moon Base and a Lot Easier to Visit Mars? The moon? Colonies in space? Wait a minute. We were standing on a hill on the outskirts of a town called Oracle — Oracle, of all things! — talking about the future of the planet, The conversation — this happened about 10 years ago — had something to do with symbiosis, the possibility that there could be a harmonious and balanced relationship between human beings and the Earth that keeps them alive.

On that day and in that spot 45 minutes north of Tucson, it was a particularly important issue because the plant scientist I was visiting was there to describe an exotic experiment called Biosphere 2, a re-creation of the Earth (which is Biosphere 1) under glass.

At some point, Tony Burgess and I stepped outside his lab and faced the rough slopes and ridgelines of the Santa Catalina Mountains. From our perch on a hill above Canyon del Oro, he pointed to a relatively flat expanse in a natural bowl below us. "Right down there," he said, "that's where it'll be built."

I looked at the artist's rendering he held and tried to imagine this thing that he called Biosphere 2 filling up the brushy landscape. The picture showed a very large futuristic-looking greenhouse, a network of white steel beams holding together thousands of glass panels. Inside this giant greenhouse, he said, the Earth's major ecosystems would be reproduced: there would be a rain forest, an ocean with a beach, a fog/marine desert, a tropical savanna, a farm where food crops and livestock would be raised. It would be a world within a world, all under glass. It would be sealed and self-sustaining.

Maybe it was our ticket to life in outer space, he suggested. Maybe it was just what we needed to make human life possible on Mars or the moon. In short, maybe this experiment would demonstrate the possibility of creating colonies in space. It was an idea that had been explored for decades in science-fiction novels and motion pictures. All that was needed was for someone to figure out how to re-create and sustain the ingredients necessary to support human life and then inject these ingredients into a gigantic terrarium that, presumably, would eventually be erected in space or on some planet.

It wasn't a new idea, of course, but until the creation of Biosphere 2, no one had ever attempted to create an encapsulated world on this large a scale. As part of the experiment, I was told, human beings would eventually be locked inside the Biosphere for a prolonged period, and they would practice self-sufficiency as though the Earth and its nutrients were millions of miles away. The thought was that if humans could survive in a sealed environment and feed themselves by practicing controlled agriculture and recycling everything organic, maybe this sealed world could be constructed in space or on another planet.

Ten years ago, all of this sounded exciting and farfetched. I was skeptical that this grandiose scheme would ever see the light of day. In the course of a long newspaper career, I'd heard of many visionary schemes. Most would start as a sketch drawn on a napkin by an enthusiastic dreamer, and that's about as close as they would get to reality, despite tremendous hype. The world was heavy with promoters and zany visionaries, and I had a vague feeling this particular venture would vanish as certainly as the pyramid fad (hey-let's-all-sleep-in-pyramids-and-absorb-cosmic-energy) had a few years earlier.

an enthusiastic dreamer, and that's about as close as they would get to reality, despite tremendous hype. The world was heavy with promoters and zany visionaries, and I had a vague feeling this particular venture would vanish as certainly as the pyramid fad (hey-let's-all-sleep-in-pyramids-and-absorb-cosmic-energy) had a few years earlier.

I was wrong.

In the fall of 1993, nearly a decade after my first and only visit to Biosphere 2, I went back and was astonished by what I saw. The rolling hills were now manicured with tame grass dotted with "Atomic Sculptures" (polished robotlike statues) by Tony Price; there were paved walkways and guided tours, a small greenhouse that people could visit, replicating plants found within Biosphere 2; there were gift shops, restaurants, espresso carts, a visitors center with a state-of-the-art sound and slide show, and even an outdoor BIOFAIR, a place filled with interactive science exhibits of the kind found at San Francisco's Exploratorium and other major museums (the Exploratorium staff designed some of the BIOFAIR exhibits). There also was a hotel with 27 suites.

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Most impressive of all, there was this thing from the artist's rendering I had glimpsed long ago, but that had not done it any justice. Looking down from the same hill where I had stood with Tony Burgess 10 years earlier, I saw the world's largest sealed greenhouse, a network of steel frames, glass and plastic-laminated windows, a tower that looked vaguely like a part of an Islamic mosque, two massive geodesic domes (used as "lungs" to regulate the air pressure inside Biosphere 2), and more. It was, I imagined, like stepping into a dreamworld created by Buckminster Fuller and Paolo Soleri.

(TOP AND ABOVE) In addition to the many exhibits specifically for visitors, it's also possible to see what's happening inside the Biosphere. At the Ocean Biome, visitors can watch what goes on both above the surface of the "sea" at the viewing gallery and below it at the visitor grotto. A biome is a major ecological community type. There are seven biomes within Biosphere 2.

(BELOW) Youngsters, especially, enjoy the BIOFAIR, an area where they can participate in interactive science exhibits.

In the years between my two visits, I'd read dozens of newspaper stories about Biosphere 2 and had several glimpses of the greenhouse on TV. Most of the stories could be divided into two categories: either Biosphere 2 was a far-reaching and provocative experiment, or it was a pseudoscientific playground designed to support the fantasies of Ed Bass, the Texas billionaire whose fortune had financed it.

Despite all the publicity, I still had questions: was Biosphere 2 some kind of far-out amusement park? Was it entertaining? Was it educational? Was it worth a special trip to the boondocks and the $12.95 per person price of admission?

You bet.

The average visitor they come from all over the world sees Biosphere 2 as a science lesson that manages to convey relevance without becoming boring. If you think that

Isn't a major accomplishment, try reading a science textbook nonstop for an hour.

Anyone who has visited the University of Arizona's Environmental Research Laboratory in Tucson (see Arizona Highways, May '87) will also see Biosphere 2 as the place where the lab's many agricultural and energy-related experiments were applied. In fact, Space Biospheres Ventures, the company that built Biosphere 2, paid the UofA lab more than $5 million to play a major part in designing much of what went into the project.

Ed Bass eventually invested $150 million in the undertaking, which may explain why Biosphere 2 is not only an intriguing science experiment but also one of the most popular tourist attractions in southern Arizona. It has been drawing approximately 220,000 visitors a year, and, oddly enough, that has provoked criticism. Some believe Biosphere 2 should be either a tourist attraction or a scientific laboratory, but definitely not both. From the outset, however, Biosphere 2 was designed as an educational model. Everyone was there to learn something.

When the first eight scientists were locked inside the Biosphere in September, 1991, to see whether they could live in an isolated, self-contained habitat for two years, no one was a hundred percent sure what would happen. As one member of the crew put it before he entered the structure, “We don't know what we're going to know. That's what we're here to find out.” This is like talking about curiosity squared. The heart of the Biosphere 2 project, what most visitors come to see, is the multistoried greenhouse that covers 3.1 acres and rises to 91 feet at its highest point. Inside this fantastic-looking structure, waves of scientists will spend the next decades re-creating the Earth's habitat and learning better ways of managing the planet's ecosystem.

For the biospherians, there are many aspects to life inside their sealed world, including tending the crops, caring for the animals, and talking with visitors.

(FAR LEFT) Dr. Roy Walford admires a stalk of corn in the vegetable garden. (LEFT) The animals living inside the Biosphere, including this rooster, help maintain a balanced ecosystem. (RIGHT) Ecologist Linda Leigh takes time out to visit with a tour group at the Desert Biome.

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Biosphere 2 is designed as a closed loop where everything gets recycled. But what does this mean? Here's one example: rice was planted in small ponds, and fish were introduced because their waste would fertilize the rice. Humans would eat the rice and some of the fish for supper, converting them to fuel for the body; the human waste created at the end of this particular cycle would then be processed by an anaerobic system that reduced it to gray water used to irrigate other crops and trees that would provide more food and oxygen. Under the circumstances, “waste not, want not” took on enormous significance. In effect, waste (LEFT) The plants inside the Thornscrub Biome include trees, shrubs, cacti, grasses, and other annuals and perennials that flourish in winter rather than summer. (BELOW, LEFT AND RIGHT) In contrast to the lush softness of the plant biomes, the areas where the scientists live reflect a futuristic and pristine geometry of form. The staircase leading to the library, which is located in a domelike tower structure that is easily recognized from the outside, is a good example. Here the scientists can relax, read, look at the stars, and contemplate where the experiments of Biosphere 2 will lead.

did not exist because everything was useful in one form or another.

Two years after they entered the Biosphere, the four men and four women “came back to Earth.” Everything had not gone smoothly inside the giant greenhouse - no one connected to the project expected perfection - yet there were significant accomplishments.

For one thing, the Biosphere worked. It sustained eight humans and some 3,800 species of plants and other animals in seven life zones with no major operational problems. Though all eight “biospherians” had lost considerable amounts of weight, they set a new record for living in a closed system by surpassing the sixmonth record set by Russian researchers in their Bios-3 experiment.

The crew spent two winters inside the Biosphere. Both winters produced unusually high amounts of rainfall and more cloudy days than are normally seen in southern Arizona, which reduced the yield of crops planted inside the Biosphere. Even so, the crew produced 80 percent of its food (the remaining 20 percent was provided from seed stock and from crops grown and stored in Biosphere 2 prior to closure).

Life on the inside was sometimes more a bed of alfalfa sprouts than a bed of roses. “Every day I was looking at seven mirrors of undesirable qualities in myself,” said biospherian Linda Leigh. “I would react to those qualities, and what I was really doing was reacting to what I don't like in myself.” As Time Magazine noted the week after the crew emerged from their two-year experiment: “There was plenty to get upset about. Two years of unusually cloudy weather cast a pall over the entire operation. The hummingbirds died, and so did the finches. The bees failed to pollinate the squash, and mites feasted on the beans and white potatoes. One crew member, Jane Poynter, lost a fingertip in a thresher accident... the rest came down with assorted complaints: diarrhea, back pain, eye and urinary-tract infections, and a cold that made the rounds until there was no one left to catch it.” For all that, “to build a Biosphere - the first one that was complex and sophisticated enough that eight humans could live in it for two years - was a magnificent accomplishment,” said Carl Hodges, founding director of the University of Arizona's Environmental Research Laboratory.

“When visitors come to the Biosphere, they see the magnificent structure and beautiful life systems inside,” said biospherian Leigh. “But what they don't see are the vast technical systems that were developed to support and help create those living systems,

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such as the wind, waves, rain, rivers, and climatic changes.

Leigh is correct. It is difficult to imagine, but it was all done, and with remarkable success, and someday your children may see it reproduced - on Mars. Maybe on the moon. Undoubtedly in California.

Author's Note: The second generation of biospherians stepped through an air lock to be sealed inside the ecological laboratory on March 6, 1994, several months after the first crew exited. The seven new biospherians represent six countries: the United States, Mexico, England, Australia, Germany, and Nepal. With some exceptions, they are expected to remain inside for more than four months. A new policy allows scientists to participate in short-term projects.

Travel Guide: For detailed information about the great variety of places to travel in Arizona, we recommend the guidebook Travel Arizona and Arizona: Land of Contrasts, a video by Bill Leverton that offers a storyteller's perspective of the state. Both will direct you to exciting destinations and out-of-the-way attractions. Our Arizona Road Atlas, featuring maps of 27 cities, mileage charts, and points of interest, also is a necessity for travelers. To order, telephone toll-free 1 (800) 543-5432. In the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., call (602) 258-1000.

Tucson-based Sam Negri was one of the first journalists to visit the Biosphere 2 site when the project was still in its design stage.

Gill C. Kenny and Goya Rama Kenny, his son, are also based in Tucson. Gill C. Kenny has been photographing Biosphere 2 since 1988.

Biosphere 2 evokes visions of a city on a distant world, which, if all goes as the biospherians hope, is just what it may help bring about. For now it's an adventure right here on Biosphere 1.

WHEN YOU GO

Biosphere 2 is located about one hour north of Tucson and two hours southwest of Phoenix. To get there from Phoenix, take Interstate 10 east to the Ina Road exit. Go left (east) on Ina to Oracle Road. Turn left (north) on Oracle Road to Oracle Junction and State Route 77. Travel five miles northeast on State Route 77 to Milepost 96. The entrance to Biosphere 2 Visitor Center Road, is one-half mile beyond Milepost 96. From Tucson take Oracle Road (State 79) north to Oracle Junction and State 77. Take 77 northeast to a half-mile beyond Milepost 96 and turn right onto Biosphere 2 Visitor Center Road. Biosphere 2 is open daily 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Half-hour guided tours begin every hour on the hour. Admission prices are: $12.95, adults; $10.95, senior citizens; $6, children five-17, when accompanied by an adult; children under five are free.

Visitors are encouraged to arrive before 2 P.M. to allow enough time to take the tour and visit all the exhibits. It's advisable to wear a hat, comfortable shoes, and a sunscreen, especially if you're planning to walk the three-quarter-mile circumference of the Biosphere.

All visitor services, including lodging, restaurants, and gift shops, are available on the grounds. Pets are not allowed.

More information can be obtained by calling (602) 825-6200 or writing to Space Biospheres Ventures, P.O. Box 689, Oracle, AZ 85623.