Part 2 of Biosphere 2

Entering the Habitat area of the once air-locked Biosphere 2. We saw a short video at the ticket area and had a second short video before we started our guided tour. One of the best sources of info came from a short video when we googled biosphere 2.

This is a photo of the Baja or Coastal Fog Desert Biome. Different from the Sonoran Desert Biome in our area of AZ.

A view of the Ocean Biome. It holds a million gallons of tropical water. A coral reef lived in the ocean biome when the Biosphere 2 was inhabited, but does not exist there now.

The Tropical Rain Forest Biome had 80% humidity on Wednesday. The lens of the camera fogged over immediately. It was difficult to take pictures in there. My hair and skin was wet when we left that biome.
An Egyptian something tree in the Upper Savanana Biome. The biospherians tried growing a coffee plant and successfully grew a type of banana in this biome.

I do not have a picture of the fifth biome, the Mangrove swamp biome.

This was a solar test plot outside the facility on the campus grounds. Firestone was one of the sponsors of the test site.

The Biosphere 2:
*has 6500 windows
*7,200,000 cubic feet of sealed glass
*is 91' high at its highest point in the rain forest biome
*covers a 40 acre campus
*is on 3.14 acres
*was once managed by Columbia University
*operates without any funds from the US government or the U of A
*had 2,300,000 visitors from 1991-2007
*is the largest closed system ever created
*during the two closure periods with humans came from 7 different countries
*Edward Bass bankrolled Biosphere 2 for $150 million
*sealed from the earth below by a 500-ton welded stainless steel liner
*was constructed from 1986-1991
*in the 1960s and 70s, the area was a conference center for Motorola
*was a ranch in the 1800s until purchased by Motorola