Saturday - March 5, 2011
When we first arrived, the sheer size of this structure was the first
thing we noticed.
Howard & Lynn in front of the area that housed the living
quarters of the Human Missions and some of the labs.
By the time we left the thing, what Geri was most impressed with was the
engineering that went into creating such a site. Engineering was
started in 1981 and took years before construction was started.
Imagine trying to figure out a heating/cooling system that could control a
structure built of glass in a place where summer temps can reach 120 degrees
on the outside and 150+ on the inside at the highest points! Not to
mention everything else that goes on with watering and surrounding the
habitation of people. Good grief!
"In the 1800s, the Biosphere 2 property was part of the
Samaniego's CDO Ranch. After several changes of ownership, it
became a conference center in the 1960s and 1970s, first for Motorola,
then for the University of Arizona. Space Biospheres Ventures
bought the property in 1984 and began construction of the current
facility in 1986. Human Missions 1 and 2 lasted from 1991-1994.
In 1994, Decisions Investments Corporation took over the property and
Columbia University managed it from 1996-2003. The property was
sold June 4, 2007 t CDO Ranching and its development partners. In
July 2007, the University of Arizona assumed management of Biosphere 2."
We first entered the biome that replicates a rain forest,
complete with little flying bugs and dripping condensation off the leaves.
There was a waterfall at the back that is hard to see in
this picture, but there was even fog as seen at the bottom of this picture.
Looking back toward the rain forest biome, we could see
the inside of the structure. This was state of the art at the time.
In another biome was this Palo Verde tree that had formed
its own "bridge" by joining two trunks.
An octopus cactus had latched onto the tree. It works spines into
the tree that actually provide something similar to a vitamin shot to the
tree. Nature is amazing!
This is a boojum tree against the backdrop of glass, steel
and the Santa Catalina mountains. I seem to recall this was in an area
known as the savannah.
The first Human Mission lasted two years. As we toured the
facility, we began to understand why the eight people (two teams of four,
all unrelated to each other) hated each other by the time it was over.
Their diet consisted of lab-lab beans, sweet potatoes, rice and other
veggies. That's it! Oh, with an occasional cockroach thrown in
for good measure. YUK! The only critters in the structure came
in during construction or otherwise worked their way in. There were a
few birds, bugs of different varieties, mice, etc. Bees were
introduced to pollinate the plant life, but they went blind and died.
The lack of UV rays caused the blindness - Interesting considering all
the light that comes in and that the plants are doing well to this day.
So, things are now hand-pollinated. Though the Biosphere is sealed,
raccoons have been known to work their way in. Our tour guide said he
had, personally, removed two ring-tailed cats. Where there's a will,
there's a way and critters do figure it out.
The Biospherians were very pale when they left from the lack of UV rays, which are
blocked by the filters on the glass. They were not allowed out once
they entered. From what we were told, it took their systems two or
three weeks to re-acclimate to the outside world's air, water and other
issues when they were released because they had lived in such a pure and
controlled environment for two years. One person immediately headed
for McDonalds on his/her release, another to Burger King, another for pizza,
etc. Real food! Can you imagine?! No meat for two years.
But worse than that, according to Lynn, was no chocolate for two
years! LOL Oh, and we added wine to the missing list. ;=) One would
think they could have grown grapes to make wine in there, or the designers
should have been perceptive enough to have grown grapes so the Biospherians
could make wine for crying out loud! Ha ha!
We were able to see the kitchen area, the lower level of one of the apartments
(they were two story units) that housed the Biospherians, and the
labs, etc. That area now houses the Command Center, as well as
offices, laboratories and classrooms.
Anyway, back to the tour:
"Biosphere 2 was opened to the public in 1990. This unique
structure was created to better understand how natural environments
create habitable conditions for human sustainability. It is a
unique facility that can be used to understand the role of life on Earth
and the effect of climate change. Biosphere 2 contains
re-creations of five of Earth's biomes, plus a human habitat and a large
economical experiment facility."
The experimental facility is still in use and ongoing. The human
habitat is not. The current cost to run the facility is about
$1,500/day. They are working toward being completely solar powered
within the next ten years. The "basement" of this facility, where all
the equipment to run the facility is located, is absolutely amazing.
Bruce would have been proud of the wiring that was done. It was all
neat and orderly. That's an electrician's wife for ya! Checking
out the wiring! LOL
"Biosphere 2 facility is 3.14 acres.
91 feet at its highest point
6,500 windows and 7,200,000 cubic feet of sealed glass
Sealed from the earth below by a 500-ton welded stainless steel liner
34.5 acre campus
300,000 square feet of administration offices, classrooms, labs,
conference center and residential housing."
The tour lasted about 90 minutes with free time at the end
to tour the Ocean and other areas on our own. It was interesting to
walk from a hot, humid rain forest into a mangrove forest much like what we
saw in Florida a few years ago and into the dry stark savannah. The
tour ended as we walked through the air-conditioned, humming Technosphere
where all the mechanical parts of the facility are housed.
Fascinating, the minds that went into this. Almost beyond
comprehension for me.
After the tour, we walked around some more and toured the
ocean exhibit. Nemo lives here! ;=)
Three weary travelers resting after having walked the
globe in the Biosphere!
Great day with great friends. Thanks, you two, for
inviting me along!
