TUCSON, Ariz. — A four-person crew will soon be locked inside a pressurized habitat at the University of Arizona's Biosphere 2, marking the first time such a mission has been conducted at the research facility in decades.
Starting Thursday morning, the crew will spend six days living inside an enclosed environment simulating the conditions of living on Mars.
Crew members will be living in Space Analog for the Moon and Mars, a 1,200-square-foot habitat that includes a greenhouse, living quarters, and an airlock leading to a yard that replicates the rugged terrain of Mars.
The researchers are supposed to behave as if the air outside cannot be breathed and their resources are limited to what's inside the habitat.
Built north of Tucson in the late 1980s, Biosphere 2 was initially intended to demonstrate how the Earth's atmosphere could be enclosed and replicated on other planets.
A group of researchers were sealed inside the facility's seven biomes in 1991 and spent the next two years living inside the facility. But the isolated researchers experienced a number of problems and the facility soon stopped conducting these types of missions.
Now that the University of Arizona has taken over the facility, Biosphere 2 is again starting to conduct days-long experiments involving people living inside a self-sustaining environment.
"Thirty years ago, eight people sealed themselves inside Biosphere 2 for two years. For the first time since, a crew will seal themselves inside of an analog habitat at this historic location," said Kai Staats, director of research for SAM at Biosphere 2.
The overall purpose of the forthcoming mission will be to study how to maintain food crops in a sealed greenhouse and develop computer models to help design other-world habitats.
"To actually live on another world, we must develop systems that can sustain human life for a long duration with the minimal, external support," Staats added.
A second five-day mission is already scheduled to start on May 10 at Biosphere 2.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on our 12News YouTube playlist here.