> In the 1990s, what was the name of the self-contained ecosystem that was builtto simulate human life on Mars?And the answer: Biosphere 2. Photo courtesy: Carol M. Highsmith's America/Library of Congress, Washington,D.C.The mission behind Biosphere 2 was to determine whether humans were capableof building and living in self-sustaining colonies in outer space. Located inthe southwest United States, the facility was filled with plants, animals, andsmall bodies of water. A research team of eight people sealed themselves insidefor two years.The idea began as a meditation by John Allen, an ecologist who first began acommune called the Synergia Ranch. After realizing that modern-day life yieldedlittle interest in preserving the earth, and with support from billionaire heirEd Bass, Allen formed the Institute for Echotechnics, an institute focused onecology, sustainable development, and eventually space colonization. It wasthere that Allen and Bass conceived the idea for Biosphere 2. In the beginning, the endeavor proved a success. The media became infatuatedwith the biospherians (as they were later referred), watching their growth withhawk-like precision to the extent that the first reality television show in the1990s admitted drawing inspiration from Biosphere 2. However, the tides soonbegan to turn. Rising carbon dioxide levels, food and water shortages, as wellas other impractical realities began to render the project unrealistic in aspace environment (not to mention absurdly costly). While popularity waned, theinhabitants began to turn on one another. Two years in, the mission wascancelled. While the media turned a harsh gaze on the costly, headline-making endeavor,Biosphere 2 offered many lessons about the successes and failures of sustaininglife in inhospitable conditions. For two years, the biospherians grew food,drank their own purified sources of water, created environments for ecosystemsto endure, and overall supported life in ways had never been done before upuntil that point. Even today, we have much to learn about the trials andtribulations of surviving where life struggles to persist. To take a look inside the impressive 3-acre complex, check out this link[https://biosphere2.org/visit/the-biosphere2-experience].