The project is "biosphere", a paradise that has burst. Project - “biosphere”, the paradise that burst “Eternal Aquariums”

- a structure simulating a closed ecological system, built by Space Biosphere Ventures and billionaire Edward Bass in the Arizona desert (USA).

The number “2” in the title is intended to emphasize that “Biosphere-1” is the Earth. There is an alternative version about the “first Biosphere” - this is the name of the American Biosphere pavilion at the Expo 67 world exhibition, at one time no less famous than the Atomium. This version is supported by the noticeable external similarity in the design of Biosphere and Biosphere-2.

The main task of Biosphere 2 was to find out whether a person could live and work in a closed environment. In the distant future, such systems may be useful both as autonomous settlements in space and in the event of extreme deterioration of living conditions on Earth.

Design

The laboratory is a network of hermetically sealed buildings with a total area of 1.5 hectares made of lightweight materials, divided into several independent ecosystems and covered with a glass cap that transmits about 50% of sunlight. The interior space is divided into 7 blocks, including a tropical forest, a miniature ocean with an unusual chemical composition, a desert, a savannah and a mangrove estuary. Giant "lungs" regulate internal pressure so that it matches the external one - this minimizes air leaks.

Progress of the experiment

The experiment was carried out in two stages: the first from September 26, 1991 to September 26, 1993 and the second in 1994. During the first stage, oxygen levels began to fall by 0.5% per month, which led to a situation where people were forced to live in conditions of oxygen starvation (similar conditions are observed at an altitude of 4,080 m above sea level). Since oxygen levels had dropped to such dangerous levels, the decision was made to artificially pump oxygen in from outside. The second stage was also prematurely interrupted due to organizational and financial problems.

It is believed that the drop in oxygen levels was caused by unexpected reproduction microorganisms. The crops, savannah and forest were filled with microorganisms that began to multiply and destroy the seedlings.

Life inside

Eight people (four women and four men) stayed in Biosphere 2 for about two years, maintaining contact with the outside world only through a computer. Along with them, 3,000 species of plants and animals were delivered there.

At first, the experiment went according to plan - trees, grass and shrubs grew inside the laboratory, which gave 46 species plant food, there were goat pastures, pigsties, chicken coops, fish and shrimp swam in artificial reservoirs.

It was assumed that the complex would function autonomously, since all the conditions for normal circulation of substances. Sunlight, according to scientists’ calculations, should have been enough for sufficient oxygen production by plants as a result of photosynthesis; worms and microorganisms were called upon to ensure waste processing, insects were called upon to fertilize plants, etc.

However, within a few weeks, the lives of subsistence farmers were disrupted. Microorganisms and insects began to multiply in unexpectedly large numbers, causing unexpected oxygen consumption and destruction of crops (the use of pesticides was not envisaged). The inhabitants of the project began to lose weight and suffocate. Scientists had to violate the experimental conditions and begin supplying oxygen and products inside (these facts were hidden and were later exposed). The first experiment ended in failure: people lost a lot of weight, the amount of oxygen decreased to 15% (the normal content in the atmosphere is 21%).

After the end of the experiment in 1994, a three-year restoration of the huge complex began. During this time, the sponsors abandoned the project, recognizing that the experiment did not bring the expected results. At the beginning of 1996, “Biosphere-2” was transferred under the scientific supervision of B. Marino and his colleagues from Earth Observatories at Columbia University. They decided to stop the experiment and remove people from the structure, since it was unclear how to solve the problem of nutrition and maintaining a constant air composition.

In mid-1996, scientists began a new experiment, this time without human participation. They had to find out:

does the yield really increase with an increase in the percentage of CO 2 and to what extent?
what happens to excess carbon dioxide and where it accumulates;
Is a reverse catastrophic process possible with an uncontrolled increase in carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere?

Issues found

A huge number of microbes and insects, especially cockroaches and ants, bred in the laboratory.
Under the glass roof of the complex, water condensed in the mornings and artificial rain poured.
The creators did not provide for such a phenomenon as wind: it turned out that without regular swaying, trees become fragile and break.

Sale

On January 10, 2005, the company that owns the unique complex put the laboratory up for sale.

conclusions

On one of the inner walls of the “planet” several lines written by one of the women are still preserved: “Only here we felt how dependent we were on the surrounding nature. If there are no trees, we will have nothing to breathe, if the water is polluted, we will have nothing to drink.”

Shocking details experiment "Biosphere 2", which was carried out by the Americans in the Arizona desert.

Recently, a Russian-American crew consisting of Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly returned to Earth after a year-long (!) expedition to the ISS. Neither Roscosmos nor NASA hid the fact that this long mission was nothing more than a rehearsal for a flight to Mars. According to calculations, sending a landing party to the Red Planet may take place within the next 15-20 years. The flight of Kelly and Kornienko was supposed to answer the main question: is it possible to protect the astronauts’ body from cosmic radiation during a 15-month flight to a neighboring planet?

At the end of the year-long mission, doctors reported that they had solved this problem. So the path to colonization of the Moon and Mars is open? But it's not that simple. As soon as astronauts leave Earth's orbit, they may face dangers that scientists are currently unable to calculate. A striking illustration of this topic was the famous experiment “Biosphere-2”, which took place in the USA in the early 90s.

"BIOSPHERE-2"

Billionaire enthusiast Edward Baas spent $200 million to create a closed ecological system in the Arizona desert. The purpose of the experiment: to understand whether a person can live in an artificially created environment. The grandiose experiment was carried out precisely with an eye to the colonization of Mars or the creation of shelters on Earth in the event of a global environmental disaster.

“Biosphere-2” consisted of pavilions with different climatic zones (tropical forest, desert, ocean, savannah, mangroves), and was inhabited by more than three thousand representatives of flora and fauna. And the crew of the completely sealed giant capsule consisted of top-class scientists. When the experiment began, many thought that the colonists were going on a 2-year paradise vacation. However, the eight scientists had to balance on the brink of life and death.

"WE EATED OURSELVES"

At first, the colonists were exclusively interested in the experiment.

Only then did I realize for the first time that I was part of the biosphere,” said Jane Poynter. - And these are not abstract words at all. The carbon dioxide I exhaled was absorbed by the sweet potato leaves. We ate so much sweet potato that it ended up turning my skin orange. And the carbon from that sweet potato became part of me again. You could say I ate the same carbon over and over again. Essentially, I was eating myself.

A few weeks after the start of the experiment, it was discovered that the oxygen content in the atmosphere of the capsule was falling for unknown reasons. And in a few months oxygen starvation should occur. Subsequently, it turned out that the designers did not take into account that large amounts of oxygen would be absorbed by bacteria, which turned out to be very numerous in the specially imported fertile soil. In addition, oxygen reacted with the concrete lining inside the Biosphere and deposited on the walls in the form of calcium carbonate.

The colonists could count on being saved by green lungs - trees from the tropical zone. In addition, they planted every piece of land with fast-growing plants to increase photosynthesis. But another mistake was discovered by the creators of the complex. They did not foresee such a phenomenon as wind. And without regular rocking, tree trunks became fragile and brittle. Periodically, the green trees that scientists prayed for fell with a crash, breaking everything around...

Due to the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations, animal deaths began. Most of the farm's inhabitants died out, and all pollinating insects disappeared. But there were ants and cockroaches in incredible numbers.

16 months after the experiment began, oxygen levels had dropped so much that people began to suffocate at night, when plants stop producing oxygen due to darkness. During the day, they experienced a state of chronic apathy and fatigue.

One day, doctor Roy Walford found himself unable to add two double-digit numbers in his head. Only then did the colonists request help from the mainland and, contrary to the conditions of the experiment, they began to pump oxygen into the dome.

“AND THEN THE RESEARCH DIRECTOR SPIT IN MY FACE”

Another shocking event for the crew was starvation. One fine day, farm manager Jane Poynter admitted that their entire agricultural complex could provide the colony with only 83 percent of the planned diet. She had these calculations several months before the start of the project, but doctor Roy Walford convinced Jane to remain silent about her fears.

The fact is that Walford developed a theory of life extension based on calorie restriction (provided that the body nevertheless receives all the vital substances). And, taking this opportunity, the doctor wanted to conduct his own experiment as part of the Biosphere-2 project. His laboratory mice, whose caloric intake was reduced by 50 percent, lived twice as long. But with people everything turned out to be much more complicated...

During the first year, the colonists lost an average of 16-18 percent in weight. That is, they lost almost a fifth of their body weight. After the theft of bananas from the pantry (no one admitted to the “crime”), the food storage began to be locked. The doctor, however, was triumphant: medical tests proved that the patients’ cholesterol levels had decreased, blood pressure had stabilized, and metabolism and immune system function had improved. Men and women are younger and their health indicators have improved.

Constant hunger, plus a lack of oxygen, had a dramatic effect on relationships in the team. The colonists began to experience outright hostility towards each other. Some categorically refused outside help, citing the purity of the experiment, and hid from the mainland the problems that arose at the station. Others, led by Jane Poynter, believed that the experiment would lose nothing if they stopped being tortured and were helped with food and oxygen.

One day I was cleaning animal pens on a farm,” Poynter recalls. “I couldn’t breathe and I felt very bad.” At that moment, steps were heard. I turned around and saw Abigail Ayling. She had something in her mouth. I didn't have time to say anything before she spat in my face. I was taken aback and could only ask: “For what?” Abigail snapped: “You know it yourself!” And she walked away...

The team was still able to complete the experiment. Although they had to open the emergency food supply and pump in additional oxygen. In the context of a flight to Mars or colonization of the Red Planet, this trick no longer worked. People would have died because there was no one to come to their aid.

“Biosphere 2” is a good lesson and warning to the organizers of future expeditions. Our world is very fragile. And in order to create a copy of the Earth on another planet, you need to become like the Creator himself.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

September 26, 1991 - the beginning of the experiment. A team of 8 participants had to live for 2 years in an artificially created biological system absolutely isolated from the outside world.

November-December 1991. Scientists have found that oxygen levels in the atmosphere are beginning to decline at a rate of 0.5% per month. The colonists began to intensively grow biomass to increase the oxygen content in the air, but their efforts were in vain.

January 1992. A food crisis loomed before the colonists. Rice crops were destroyed by pests. The buffet was canceled and rations were introduced. Their energy value was 1,700 calories per day per person. Which is not enough for people engaged in heavy physical labor.

April-May 1992. As a result of constant conflicts, the team was divided into 2 warring groups. 4 people led by Jane Poynter insisted on accepting outside help. The other half of the crew was categorically against violating the purity of the experiment.

November 1992. The inhabitants of Biosphere 2, suffering from hunger, opened emergency food supplies. Jane Poynter notified the project management about this. She was immediately fired and ordered to leave the experimental area, but Jane refused to do so.

By January 1993, oxygen levels had dropped from 21 to 14.2%. This concentration of gas is observed in the mountains at an altitude of 4080 meters. People began to experience severe oxygen starvation. The project management decided to secretly pump 23 tons of oxygen inside the Biosphere.

May-July 1993. The colonists managed to grow a good crop weighing more than a ton. This made it possible to increase the caloric content of the diet and people partially compensated for the significant weight loss that was observed in the first year.

RESOURCES

The new Robinsons had agricultural land with an area of 1.27 hectares. They grew bananas, papayas, sweet potatoes, beets, peanuts, beans, rice, wheat and other crops.

The livestock farm was inhabited by: 4 goats and 1 male goat; 35 laying hens and 3 roosters; 2 sows and 1 boar. In addition, the colonists had their own fishery: they bred tilapia, an unpretentious fish.

TEAM

Group A*

Sally Silverstone, 36 years old. Colony captain, agricultural expert. Resolved organizational issues.

Mark Van Tillo, 30 years old. Captain of the colony, professional mechanic. Responsible for technical issues

Abigail Ayling, 31 years old. Oceanologist, director of scientific research.

Mark Nelson, 44 years old. Responsible for irrigation and sanitation systems. PR director of the project, maintained contact between the inhabitants of the “Biosphere” and the outside world.

Group B*

Jane Poynter, 29 years old. Specialist in intensive agriculture. She managed the farm and provided the colony with food.

Taber McCallum, 27 years old. Technical assistant.

Linda Ley, 39 years old. A botanist, her area of responsibility is the flora of the Biosphere.

Roy Walford, 67 years old. Team doctor.

* The colonists were divided into these two warring camps when they were faced with hunger and lack of oxygen.

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Project "Biosphere-2" - is life possible in an artificial habitat?

An incredibly sobering experiment!

Human civilization must have a backup plan; otherwise, by continuing such a rapid movement towards the destruction of our planet, it, a civilization, is inevitably doomed to extinction. Therefore, the researchers are faced with the question: what if living conditions on Earth become unsuitable for human existence. An equally interesting task is related to the colonization of outer space. Moreover, the first human flight to Mars is already planned to take place in 2018. They already tried to get answers to them in 1991. Space Biosphere Ventures, in collaboration with scientists, created an artificial model of an ecosystem with closed biological cycles. It was a grandiose project in scale, called. Where the number “two” emphasized that our Earth is still biosphere No. 1.

"Biosphere-2" from a bird's eye view.

The essence of the Biosphere-2 project
In the Sonoran Desert (Arizona, USA), on an area of 1.2 hectares, a network of hermetically sealed domed buildings isolated from the Earth's environment was built. The complex was divided into 5 landscape areas: savannah, forest, desert, mangrove estuary and even a miniature ocean with a beach area. The rest of the space was allocated for agricultural needs, residential premises, and a control and computing center for monitoring all ongoing processes and communication with the outside world. The fauna of the laboratory included more than three thousand different representatives, including goats, chickens, pigs and fish. Flora (about 4 thousand species) - trees, herbs and shrubs, could bring 46 varieties of plant food. According to calculations, the oxygen produced by plants, the food grown and the reuse of the same purified water would be enough for the necessary cycle of life. The complex was equipped with complex technical equipment that simulated many natural phenomena (rain, ocean currents, sea surf, etc.). It was assumed that this ark, including 8 people, was supposed to function autonomously for two years.

A tropical forest.

Farm.

“Biosphere-2” cost the developers $200,000,0000.

Ocean.

Progress of the Biosphere-2 experiment

4 men and 4 women, including certified agricultural professionals, a botanist, a sanitation worker, a mechanic, a doctor, and an oceanographer, voluntarily isolated themselves from the outside world to engage in subsistence farming for the benefit of science. Many employees were jealous of their colleagues, calling them lucky, thinking that they were going on a heavenly vacation. At the very beginning, life in the artificial biosphere looked really rosy. Bionafts enthusiastically worked on farms, fished, controlled the supply system, relaxed on the ocean, and in the evening they met at a single table, having philosophical conversations, eating excellent food from freshly prepared products - what is not heaven?

A group of participants in the scientific project “Biosphere-2”, in full force.

Group Doctor Roy Walford.

Dining area of "Biosphere-2".

Kitchen block "Biosphere-2".

The bedroom of one of the participants.

But after 7 days, the excited technician informed everyone that the designers of Biosphere-2 had made a mistake in the calculations and the percentage of oxygen in the air was dropping. And if the trend continues, then it will be impossible to live in the dome within a year. From that time on, the colonists began intense activity aimed at eliminating the error. The first step was to make a decision to intensively grow plants that produce high O2 levels. Then the backup CO2 absorber was launched. The sudden savior was the ocean, in which carbon dioxide settled, however, this caused the acidity of the reservoir to constantly increase, and it was necessary to lower it artificially. All the measures taken did not give the desired result - the air became increasingly rarefied.

Over time, another problem arose. It was discovered that the entire farming enterprise of Biosphere-2 can only feed the scientists 80%. The daily diet had to be reduced to 1,700 kcal (this figure is normal for office workers, but not for people engaged in physical labor). The buffet was replaced with measured portions. People felt hungry for a while. This gave rise to conflict situations between bionaphthas. In particular, the food pantry had to be locked; after an outrageous looting incident, which remained unsolved, no one admitted their guilt.

Bionaphthas work on the farm.

It later turned out that Jane Poynter (farm manager), two months before the launch, had calculated the food shortage. But, under pressure from team doctor Roy Walford, she decided not to voice her thoughts. It turns out that the doctor was working separately on proving the theory of increasing life expectancy as a result of reducing calorie intake. His early experimental rats, whose calorie intake was cut in half, lived twice as long. He planned to conduct his secret experiment on people in the conditions of “Biosphere-2”. He got it into the woman’s head that such a diet would only improve the health of the participants. The doctor was the only person who did not complain about the lack of food. After 6 months of eating this way, people lost an average of 10 kg in weight, their blood tests became better, their cholesterol dropped, and their metabolism normalized.

At the same time, the subjects felt increasingly worse. The summer months of next year in Biosphere 2 turned out to be the most difficult. Food chains in the artificial environment were incomplete, and the number of harmful insects, in the absence of a countervailing number of natural enemies, increased rapidly. The rice crop was destroyed. I had to eat legumes and carrots. The abundance of accumulated carotene in the body gave their skin an orange tint. Large trees in the “jungle” sector began to collapse and fall (after scientists, racking their brains over the phenomenon of fragility of trees, concluded that the reason was the lack of wind in the complex, which in natural conditions, weakening, strengthens their trunks). The animal and plant world began to decline. The only ones who had a good life were the cockroaches and goosebumps, their population increased every day.
At that time, the O2 level in Biosphere-2 showed 16% (the norm is 21%). As a result of oxygen starvation, the colonists felt constant fatigue, dizziness, and they could no longer perform their duties as required. People became sad, depressed and irritable; this emotional state led to constant showdowns within the group. The main reason for the scandals was a difference of opinion: some of the participants believed that, despite the difficulties of the experiment, it was necessary to complete the work and stay under the dome for the planned time, four had the opposite opinion. They thought it was necessary to urgently ask for help and involve other scientists in the project in order to understand where the air was disappearing. They also didn’t mind pumping in the missing oxygen and organizing food supplies from outside.

From the memoirs of participant Jane (who advocated attracting outside help): “I experienced constant dizziness, but I still had to tidy up the cattle in the barn, while resting every minute, otherwise I would fall unconscious. In the morning, we again discussed with the team the current problems in “Biosphere-2”, then I expressed that being in such conditions, starving and suffocating, is no longer science, but a sect! I thought about everything that was happening and at that very second, Abigail Ayling (research director) came up to me and spat in my face! I said in confusion: “Why?” “You’ll eat,” she answered as she left.

Meanwhile, excursion buses with tourists drove up every day to gawk at the fantastic characters advertised in the press, living in a large aquarium, and had no idea about the passions raging inside. By the way, as the creators of the first reality show “Big Brother” later admitted, “Biosphere-2” served as a prototype for the creation of a Dutch project.

Every day, hundreds of tourists gathered under the walls of Biosphere-2.

Already in the autumn of ninety-two, O2 fell to a level of 14.2%. Doctor Walford officially said that he was resigning from all official duties due to the fact that he was no longer able to add double-digit numbers in his mind. In the dark it became even more difficult, as a result of the lack of plant photosynthesis, O2 rapidly decreased. At this stage, all mammals in Biosphere-2 had already died. External test managers decided to begin pumping oxygen and supplying additional products. The measures taken had a good effect on the health of the subjects, but this did not lead to their use, which hindered further research.

In September 1993, everything officially ended and people came out. Soon, journalists found out about the secret supply of air and food and immediately dubbed “Biosphere-2” the greatest scientific failure of the century.

Where did the oxygen go?
As it turned out later, the problem was in the cement partitions of the dome, with which O2 reacted and fell onto the walls in the form of oxides. The second factor was microorganisms in the soil. The most fertile black soil was chosen for the test, with the intention of preserving natural trace elements in it for a longer time. But such soil also contains the largest number of bacteria, which also consume oxygen. If the experiment were carried out on another planet, then its end would be the death of the colonists. Inside the Biosphere-2 complex there is still an inscription made by one of the participants on the inner wall: “Only in this place did we feel how much we depend on nature. If the trees disappear, we will have nothing to breathe, if the water becomes polluted, we will have nothing to drink.”

Afterwards, attempts were made to conduct similar studies, but without human participants. The attempt did not bring the expected results, sponsors refused funding and the project was frozen. For many years, Biosphere-2 changed owners and remained a tourist attraction. Until in 2011, the University of Arizona resumed scientific work on the territory of the complex related to the study of climate change, which continues to this day. 23 years have passed since the end of the experiment and science does not stand still; we look forward to the publication of new discoveries in the field of astrobiology.

Video: Jane Poynter talks about life and the difficulties of working at Biosphere 2.

What is Biosphere 2?

In the 1970s, American financier Edward Bass, who came from a wealthy Texas family that made billions from oil, met John Allen, an ecologist, engineer and inventor of Biosphere 2. Allen had ideas, Bass had money to spend on these ideas. In the 80s, these ideas crystallized sufficiently into a project for which Bass was not sorry to allocate $150 million.

Allen planned to place 10 square kilometers of land under transparent domes, populating them with plants, animals and people. For what? He wanted to test how flexible life is, whether it is possible to enclose it in an airtight box and whether it can exist in a balanced way. In addition, “Biosphere-2” could show (at least approximately) whether a person would be able to take with him his usual habitat for the colonization of other planets.

Construction began in 1987 in Arizona. It was complicated by the fact that window seals and other structures had to be as airtight as possible in order to reduce air leaks to a minimum. Otherwise, the team would not have been able to record changes in oxygen density under the dome. In total, 180 tons of air were concentrated in Biosphere-2.

Since during the day the air was heated by the sun and expanded, and at night, on the contrary, it was compressed, engineers had to level out these pressure differences. For this, it was decided to build huge dome-shaped diaphragms, which were called “lungs”.

In total, the building at the start contained about 20 tons of biomass, represented by 4 thousand species. It was expected that 5-20% of them would simply die out. All this biomass was distributed over five wild biotopes (tropical forest, mini-ocean with a coral reef, mangrove swamps, savanna, foggy desert) and two more anthropogenic ones - fields and vegetable gardens, as well as residential areas with laboratories and workshops, where man ruled. The ocean occupied the least amount of space - only 450 square meters, while the fields and vegetable gardens for the eight future “bionauts” occupied an area of 2,500 square meters. They housed four goats with a male goat, 35 hens with three roosters, two sows and a boar. There were fish in the local pond.

Dividing zone between biotopes in the foreground and the ocean in the background

Underneath all this there were rooms with technical infrastructure, and outside there was a natural gas station that supplied energy to the entire complex. A closed ecosystem had to be 100% self-sufficient in water, food, fertilizer waste and air. Calculations showed that all this is feasible. But as is usually the case, soon after the experiment began, something went wrong.

Tabernacles of Eden?

Eight volunteers, four men and four women, first entered this earthly paradise on September 26, 1991. They were faced with a simple task: to go back no earlier than in two years. Naturally, all these months the team had no time to be bored. They had to work in the fields, care for livestock and carry out planned experiments.

-To make pizza, I had to harvest the wheat and make the dough. Then feed and milk the goats to then get cheese. In “Biosphere-2” it took me four months to prepare the pizza, - Jane Poynter, one of the participants in the experiment, said during a TED Talk. According to her, she spent two years and 20 minutes in an isolated world.

True, Jane is not completely honest here. A little over two weeks later, the girl chopped off the tip of her middle finger while operating a rice-husking machine. A local doctor from the team tried to reattach it, but the finger did not want to heal. Jane was urgently evacuated from paradise and sent to a medical center, where her finger was sewn back into place. Seven hours later she returned back to the Biosphere.

Crack in the Ark of Paradise

The desert was the first to emerge from human control: the accumulated moisture at the top of the dome generated almost continuous rain above it. Corals in the ocean began to die: the water absorbed too much carbon dioxide.

Over time, both the sensors and the colonists themselves began to notice a drop in oxygen levels in the local atmosphere. The content of this extremely important element decreased from 21% to a critical 14% over 16 months. As studies at the end of the experiment showed, there were too many cement structures inside Biosphere-2, which absorbed carbon dioxide and thereby reduced the concentration of oxygen produced.

People had to live in almost high mountain conditions for a long time. Oxygen starvation, naturally, had a negative impact on the health of the “bionauts”. Both physically and mentally. Jane recalls that their doctor, a rather elderly man by that time, at some point was no longer able to add up the numbers. Some team members couldn't finish their sentences because they had to catch their breath in the middle.

- You wake up gasping for air because the composition of your blood has changed. And then you literally do this: you stop breathing, then you inhale, and it wakes you up. It's terribly annoying.

In addition, the microflora of the tropical forest got out of control and began to develop too quickly. The unexpected proliferation of microorganisms and insects caused additional oxygen consumption. They especially multiplied in black soil. The best and most fertile one was chosen for the experimental fields.

The media, which had previously treated the experiment with skepticism, in some cases calling its participants a “sect of a cult of survival,” trumpeted that the team was literally slowly dying. All these factors led the management to decide to turn on the oxygen supply to paradise from the outside.

Human factor

But one of the most important reasons for the failure of the experiment was the human factor. None of the Biosphere 2 team members were in isolation for more than a couple of months. Only Taber McCallum had three years of sailing experience. Discord in the team quickly divided the eight into two groups, which, according to Jane, even after so many years can’t stand each other’s spirits.

Each group had its own vision of how it would be better and more correct to continue the experiment. Some believed that it was necessary to relieve the crew and shift part of the scientific work to scientists outside the dome, sacrificing complete isolation, and allow the import/export of equipment and samples. Others believed that it was necessary to completely maintain the purity of the experiment and cope on their own. They feared that opponents would push the experiment to the point of allowing food imports, which would be a real failure of the project.

As a result of conflicts, the team was unable to work together and move forward smoothly. People dined separately, tried not to look each other in the eyes and communicated extremely rarely.

Conflicts were aggravated by a lack of oxygen and food, people became depressed and irritated. The same insects and microorganisms that ate oxygen negatively affected the growth of crops. The team was forced to switch to a low-calorie, low-fat diet.

The preacher of the diet, by the way, was the same doctor of medicine, Roy Walford, who tried to sew Jane’s finger. He was confident that the daily human diet should be limited to 1,500 kilocalories without fat, which would increase human life expectancy to 130 years. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 79 (11 years after leaving Biosphere 2) as a result of respiratory arrest associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Some experts suggested that it could be the result of low energy intake in the scientist's body.

If Walford was prepared for such a diet, then many other participants did not like such a restriction in food. Constant crop failures, long hours of work in the fields... the team could not leave thoughts of food, and their weight melted like ice cream on hot asphalt. Taber went from hunky to emaciated martyr, losing 27kg by eating only fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, eggs and goat's milk products.

This is what Roy looked like right after leaving the dome and when he had already eaten enough

The team saw meat only on Sundays - a little chicken or fish. In order not to lose any precious calories, some members of the team, according to Poynter's recollections, licked the plates after every meal.

However, Walford, who regularly took blood tests from all participants, found that the indicators were close to ideal: cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels fell, and blood pressure normalized. But the “bionauts” did not become happier because of this.

In November 1992, some colonists began eating the stock of seeds that were not grown inside the building. Against the backdrop of media reports about food caches, food smuggling, and accusations of data falsification, the entire scientific advisory board of the project decided to leave it.

Meanwhile, the public has formed an opinion of “Biosphere-2” as a kind of Olympic sport (they say, how long will they last without opening the door), and not as a scientific experiment, a theory that is tested on a model, gradually making changes. Thus, by the end of the experiment, the background around him was mostly negative.

Aftertaste of experiment

In September 1993, the doors of Biosphere 2 were opened. And they released the exhausted colonists from there. Here's what Jane Poynter says about the moment of deliverance:

- I'd say we all came out a little crazy. I was excited to see all my family and friends. For two years I saw people through glass. And then everyone ran to me. And I pulled back. They stank! People stink! We stink of hairspray and deodorant and all that crap.

In 1994, the second mission of the “bionauts” began. Already in a different composition. They prudently sealed the concrete and prepared to spend 10 months in captivity. But first, two fired members of the former team broke into the dome as a sign of protest, opened several emergency exits, breaking the seal for 15 minutes. Five windows were also broken. The commanders of the new crew left the dome one after another, and in June 1994 the sponsors abandoned the project and stopped funding it.

Despite all the millions of dollars, spacious premises and the best black soil, the first mission to Biosphere 2 can be considered a failure. People were unable to achieve stable oxygen circulation in their dome, and constant crop failures and pests brought them literally to the brink of survival. Moreover, these eight colonists demonstrated that man is one of the weakest links in such isolation.

Biosphere 2 still stands in the Arizona desert. Now it is more of a botanical garden under a dome, which belongs to the state university. Experiments are being carried out there, but not on such a large scale. There are regular excursions for schoolchildren and tourists. One of the attractions that is demonstrated during the excursions is the inscription left by the former “bionaut”: “Only here we felt how dependent we were on the surrounding nature. If there are no trees, we will have nothing to breathe, if the water is polluted, we will have nothing to drink.”

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