Edward Bass a Texas oilman funded the $150 million project during the late 1980's to build Biosphere 2 which can be found in Oracle, Arizona. The structure was designed to replicate the environment of the Earth in an airtight environment. The 7,200,000 cubic foot structure houses five biomes. The structure houses agricultural areas, a desert, rain forest, 900,000 gallon ocean and a human habitat.
The managers and designers that began the project had an interest in space travel and wanted to explore the possibility of colonies on Mars or the Moon. They hoped to determine the effects of living in a system that was sealed off from the rest of the world and figure out how to solve the problems that would arise. Eight people formed a colony within Biosphere 2 during 1991 with the intention of living in the artificial environment for two years.
The people selected came from seven countries and were trained for years to ensure proficiency in their fields and increase the expertise they had in other fields. September 26, 1991 a group of four men and four women became the first crew of Biosphere 2. These Biospherians as they were known stayed in the biosphere for two years during which time they experienced problems that included the limited production of agriculture. They left Biosphere 2 on the 26th of September in 1993 six months later a second seven person crew entered it.
The project endured disdain from the scientific community and ridicule from the public after a number of social and physical problems developed. In 1994 the experiments were suspended and there has not been a resident crew in Biosphere 2 since then. There are no plans for inhabitation of Biosphere 2 in the future.
Tours are now given at Biosphere 2 allowing visitors to enter the 3.15 acre structure. The new conference center that cost $10 million to build is where the tour will start. There is parking for five hundred vehicles that goes directly into the visitor center with the admissions, theater and gift shop. The next stop on the tour is a view of the rainforest in Biosphere 2 visitors are then taken into the self-contained world. The tour then transitions from the cliff overlooking the ocean to the savannahs, desert, thorn scrub and the techno sphere in the south lung complex. Next stop on the Biosphere 2 tour is the viewing gallery exhibit which is an underwater view of the ocean. Then the tour returns to where it began. This guided tour of Biosphere 2 also gives visitors photo opportunities that could not be gotten on the other route.
Biosphere 2 is open all year round from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The Biosphere has a three gift shops. The Desert Digs where you can purchase Columbia and Biosphere 2 gear, Rain forest where you can find educational products and the Coral Reef where you can purchase Aveda and oceanic products. Three meals a day are served at the Canada Del Oro Restaurant which offers a view of the Catalina Mountains. There is even a hotel in Biosphere 2 to accommodate those wishing to stay overnight.
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