Читать книгу Life Under Glass - Марк Нельсон - Страница 16

It’s not easy to fully comprehend or study our Earth’s biosphere because it is so vast. It is one thing to know that we live in a biosphere with finite resources and critical feedback loops requiring biodiverse systems, but it’s another thing to learn with immediacy how it works or how our actions enhance or degrade its health. Thus, previous expeditions and space exploration were useful analogies for our planning. During the design phase, we met frequently to prepare for the two-year journey as if we were going to leave Earth. During the Biosphere 2 experiment, we observed ourselves and the challenges we encountered as precursors to what it would be like to live off this planet. We knew Biosphere 2 was to become our home for two years and that we would have to be resourceful, like we will need to be during future extended space exploration or in off-planet bases. In that respect, in addition to creating a laboratory for ecological experiments, Biosphere 2 also served as a test-bed to inform space design, generate baseline data about sustainable life support systems, and provide knowledge about group dynamics during long-term space missions.

During the two years, we came to realize that future space missions must include a wealth of living systems, for both physical and psychological health. All eight of us deeply understood that humans have evolved in and depend upon our biospheric life support system. Our ability to live in another world separated from Earth was only possible because Biosphere 2 contained a variety of Earth’s ecological systems. The beauty of our ecosystems was nourishing; the life around us gave us joy, we were part of this new biosphere and evolved with it. That included developing and then fine-tuning its systems and our skills to provide for our needs; all of which will be required for people to live and thrive in space. The most important question for such space habitation is “what do we need to be OK once we leave this planet?” Answering this question produced years of discussions during the design phase that made Biosphere 2 a world where we could not just survive but live well.