Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why did the first Biosphere 2 crew fail to reach maximum food production?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2, located in Oracle, Arizona, U.S., shown in 2008. The facility was originally developed to study survivability and assess whether humans were capable of building and living in self-sustaining colonies in outer space. It was later used as a scientific research facility.
The first crew of Biosphere 2 failed to reach maximum food production primarily due to environmental factors. During the 1991–92 El Niño event, the region experienced more cloud cover than usual. This increased cloudiness limited the photosynthetic activity of the plants grown within the facility, which directly resulted in reduced food yields.1
This lack of sufficient photosynthesis is also believed to have contributed to the significant drop in oxygen levels observed during the mission, as the plants were unable to produce oxygen at the expected rates.1