We had heard about the Biosphere 2 but had never been to see it. When we were in Tucson in January and had lunch with Tom and Jackie they mentioned it as a place we should visit. So this trip we took an afternoon and went to see the Biosphere 2. Construction of the Biosphere 2 began in 1986 and the first human mission started in September 1991. It was a 2 year mission with 8 crew members with a goal to see if they could live in a 3.14 acre sealed environment with all their necessities, food, water and oxygen being provided from inside the biosphere. These experiments were done in a time when there were thoughts of colonizing on the moon and long-term space travel.
Test showed Biosphere 2 to be thirty times more tightly sealed then the space shuttle. Because a forceful El Nino cast Arizona into one of its cloudiest seasons on record, carbon dioxide levels rose inside Biosphere 2 coinciding with an unusually dark cloudy period in the last week of December when photosynthesis was greatly reduced. This resulted in severe oxygen depletion and oxygen had to be pumped inside in January of 1993.
The development of a sustainable, highly productive (eight humans fed from one half acre), and non-polluting agriculture system was already clearly one of the top achievements of Biosphere 2. They recycled all human and domestic animal waste products and utilized dozens of crop varieties to provide nutritional balance and allow for crop rotation. The crew had produced approximately 80% of their food. The other 20% was drawn from a three month supply of food that was grown inside the facility before the experiment began and from seed reserve.
The health of the crew continued to be excellent. Their health indices, including blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and other measurements were better than before entry into Biosphere 2, due in large part to their low-calorie, low-fat, nutrient-dense diet. The crew members did lose an average of 16% of their pre-entry body weight before stabilizing. This was because of about a 2200 calorie diet and being able to eat meat only once every two weeks.
In the foreground is the ocean pool that simulates the ocean in the San Diego area and the area behind the windows is the tropical forest that has over 90 species of plant; some of which are over 60 feet tall.
Here is a view from the inside looking to the mountains.
There are also three different desert areas in Biosphere 2.
This is the kitchen area of the living quarters.
Biosphere 2 is now owned by the University of Arizona and used for various experiments, some of which are water erosion and solar power.
After we left the Biosphere we decided to drive to Mt Lemmon coming in on the dirt road from the north side of the mountain. Note that this narrow road is two way traffic.
Keep this picture in mind later in the Blog. There is moisture in those clouds.
Is this horse saying “what the heck are you doing on this road”?
The last 15 miles were squiggly like this mile and a half shown on the GPS. “N Control” means non control road.
I would have hated to see what the road was like before they spent all this money to improve it. We never expected to see a sign like this here.
And besides that, they could have invested in a couple signs along the way so you would not spend 1 1/2 hours driving 22 miles of a 26 mile road just to come up to a road closure. Now we know why that horse was looking at us with the look of disbelief on his face. The sign to the right of the “road closed” sign says the road is closed from Oct 15 to March 1st. Too bad we decided to go for a ride on February 27th.
Now it’s time to head back and see if we can get out of the worst road before it gets dark. A light rain also started so we hoped it would not rain any harder while we were on the mountain.
Well, at least we made it to a good gravel road before it got too dark.
The next day we decided to attempt Mt Lemmon again, but this time from the south side on a paved road. Sandy is also trying out her new camera. Somewhere in the desert dust got behind the lens which made spots on many of the pictures.
Here are some scenic pictures on our way up the mountain. Scenery on this side of the mountain was totally different from the other side.
This picture shows the switchbacks in the road ahead.
There were a lot of interesting rock formations along the road.
We called this one “Robo Man”.
Doesn’t this rock formation look like a man praying?
Remember that picture where I talked about the moisture in the air. Well, these frosty trees are the result of that moisture overnight. These pictures were taken around 3:15PM at 7800 feet elevation. We could hear the frost melting from the trees all around us in the warm afternoon.
The ski resort was closed at the end of the road so we could not get a bite to eat at the top of the mountain.
This is where the road we were on yesterday should have led us.
We came across a group of wild turkeys while on Mt Lemmon.
Lower down on the mountain there were a few plants blooming.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy
No comments:
Post a Comment