Biosphere 2 - Oracle Arizona - April 2002

Apr 27 2002 15:44:04 View of Biosphere 2 w/campus in foreground	Apr 27 2002 15:45:40 Biosphere 2 w one "Lung" on left	Apr 27 2002 16:21:17 View into Ocean Biome in Biosphere 2	Apr 27 2002 16:21:33 Detail of truss structure used for roof and walls of Biosphere 2
Apr 27 2002 16:24:33 Tour guide making a point with a visitor	Apr 27 2002 16:29:20 Exterior roof/wall of Ocean/Savannah/Desert Biomes of Biosphere 2	Apr 27 2002 16:31:38 Human habitation area (not used now) in Biosphere 2	Apr 27 2002 16:36:41 Light shaft to large tower in Human Habitat area
Apr 27 2002 16:37:42 Agricultural area of Human Habitat - all food for Biosphere residents was grown in one of 3 identical areas like this one.	Apr 27 2002 17:01:02 JCP in front of one of Biosphere 2's twin "lungs" which regulate air pressure inside the sealed building	Apr 27 2002 17:02:46 View through glass into Desert Biome - which contains a "wetter" desert than the Sonoran Desert surrounding Biosphere 2	Apr 27 2002 17:16:18 Exterior view of Bisophere 2 showing trees growing in Rain Forest Biome
Apr 27 2002 17:20:04 Biosphere test cell. This was built before Biosphere 2 to test construction techniques	Apr 27 2002 17:20:52 Desert cactus growing in Biosphere Test Cell

Facts about Biosphere 2

• Bisophere 2 is operated now by a consortium of universities as a research project into climate change.
• It was originally constructed by a private company called Space Biosphere Ventures funded by the Bass Brothers from Texas.
• Biosphere 2 is the largest sealed environmentally controlled building in the World.
• You can see active research there at the site http://www.bio2.edu/
• Biosphere 2 is located in the Sonoran Desert north of Tucson, Arizona, the nearest town is Oracle, Arizona. (its about a 30 minute drive north on the Oracle Road from Tucson).
• The original research by Space Biosphere Ventures sealed 8 people inside Biosphere 2 for 2 years in 1991 and 1992.
• All food was grown inside Biosphere 2, and eventually oxygen was added to the air as the only outside input other than energy.
• Biosphere 2 is now used for research on global warming & higher levels of Carbon Dioxide than are in the air presently.
• There is now a hotel on the site that is open to the public (outside the Biosphere 2 building)
• Visitors may take outside tours (which I took), or “Under the Glass” special tours that go inside the sealed enclosure
• The Human Habitat area is now open for tours (several of the pictures I took were taken there).

I visited Biosphere 2 in April 2002 and took these pictures with a Sony Digital Cybershot DSC-F55 camera.

Table created by Thumber