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Outlook: Why 8 of us were sealed in a glass dome

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Why 8 of us were sealed in a glass dome

12/09/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, Why 8 of us were sealed in a glass dome

Biosphere 2 was one of the most controversial human experiments of the 20th century

An intrepid crew of eight people lived inside a giant greenhouse in the Arizona desert for two years. It was an experiment to see if humans could survive on other planets.

In September 1991, a crew of eight people were locked inside a giant air-tight terrarium in the Arizona desert for two years. Biosphere 2, as it was called, was filled with plants and wildlife - it was an experiment to see if humans could create similar sealed worlds on other planets. At the time it was described as revolutionary and controversial in equal measure because not long into the experiment, tensions began to simmer and oxygen began depleting. Outlook's Saskia Edwards spoke to the original crew members Mark Nelson, Sally Silverstone, Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter about what really happened inside. 

Sally Silverstone and Mark Nelson have recently re-released a book they wrote while inside the biosphere called 'Life Under Glass: The Inside Story of Biosphere 2'

Picture: The 8 original Biospherians outside part of Biosphere 2
Credit: Corbis Historical/ Getty Images

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