At 8:18 am, the four-man and four-woman crew stepped inside the 3.15 acre geodesic- framed compound, Biosphere II, for a two-year test of space colonization technology. Biosphere II consists of several climatic zones--rain forest, savanna, ocean and marsh-- packed with 3,800 plant and animal species. Communications apparatus connects the crew with a control station a few hundred yards away. Each member will spend about four hours daily on farming and chores for maintaining machinery driving the Biosphere. The first two years are spent in an enclosed dome that is heated by solar panels to keep it at approximately minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
At 8:18 am, the four-man and four-woman crew stepped inside the 3.15 acre geodesic- framed compound, Biosphere II, for a two-year test of space colonization technology. Biosphere II consists of several climatic zones--rain forest, savanna, ocean and marsh-- packed with 3,800 plant and animal species. Communications apparatus connects the crew with a control station a few hundred yards away. Each member will spend about four hours daily on farming and chores for maintaining machinery driving the Biosphere. Problems could crop up after a month or so that would require the crew to leave temporarily before returning for a solid two years.