Embracing the Experiment: Interview with Abigail Alling of Biosphere 2
"I hope the future of humanity will strive to create cosmic biospheres. . ."
Located in the Sonoran desert near Tucson, Biosphere 2 is touted by Columbia University as the world's largest glass-enclosed ecological laboratory. Space Biospheres Ventures described it as a "planet in a bottle" into which were imported over 3800 hand-selected species of plants and animals that inhabited five distinct ecological "biomes" — a marsh, a desert, a savannah, an ocean, and a rainforest: the indoor rain and tides controlled by computer from the Biosphere Command Room. In September of 1991, wearing futuristic jumpsuits made by one of Marilyn Monroe's clothes designers, four men and four women entered Biosphere 2 (Biosphere 1 is Earth), closed the airlock behind them and, except for one of the women who left Biosphere briefly to have her severed finger sewn back on after a threshing machine accident, emerged two years later. They had orange skin from the high levels of beta-carotene in their diet. They had since become acclimated to oxygen levels that intitially found them with symptoms of high-altitude sickness. And they hadn't carried cash in two years.
I became interested in Biosphere 2 when I stopped there on a roadtrip through the Southwest. I had never heard of Biosphere 2, but as soon as the tour guide began telling us about the project and led us into the berthing and living areas I was struck by certain parallels with living in Antarctica: the voluntary isolation, the small community, the grassroots recreation, the absence of treasured commodities, and the intentional social design, to name a few.
For years parallels have been made between Biosphere 2, Antarctic stations, and space stations, but usually such inquiries follow a scientific or technical line. As many readers of Big Dead Place are accustomed to year-long contracts at Antarctic stations, I approached Abigail Alling via email to learn about the cultural aspects of living in Biosphere 2 for two years, and to discuss the parallels between Biosphere 2 and Antarctic stations. Miss Alling is a founding crewmember of Biosphere 2; she lived inside the experiment from September 1991 to September 1993.
Big Dead Place: Your book briefly mentions that you've tracked whales to Antarctica. Did you go to any of the American stations?
Abigail Alling: We went to Palmer with the RV Heraclitus in 1989. A beautiful trip, and we were made very welcome.
In "Life Under Glass: The Inside Story of Biosphere 2" you wrote that "One of the most interesting (and distant) links we made was in March 1992 with the twenty-two-person American research team at the South Pole. Part of our fascination was in finding a mirror through which to see ourselves." What did you learn from the mirror?
We recognized the group in Antarctica were facing similar challenges as we were and I recall appreciating that we were not alone — that there were others experiencing (1) isolation and group dynamic issues, (2) a foreign environment, and (3) food issues. It was exciting to know that there were two experiments on-go at the same time.
You decided to isolate yourself in Biosphere for two solid years. How did your idea of isolation from the world-at-large change from before you went inside to after you came out?
I had spent a lot of time at sea before BIO2, so I had some experience with isolation and I think this prepared me well.
What did it mean when that door closed behind you?
When the door closed behind us I felt that "the moment" was a turning point. That we had begun the journey, but that we would not be moving like a ship, we would be stationary. However, the experience was a journey in time — experiencing how people might have lived "in tune" with the environment in ancient times past, to future space travelers.
In the papers we learn that isolation is considered by many to be a terrible hardship, but for those so engaged it seems almost an addiction. What is different about the person who enjoys the feeling of that door shutting behind them?
I loved living inside BIO2 and was, in fact, reluctant to come out! Others inside during the two years really toyed with the idea of coming out and expressed unhappiness from time to time. I think this comes down to that some people are adventurers and some are not. I am.
Every season here I notice that there are those who count the days until they leave, and those who don’t. What was the population of day-counters in Biosphere? In your opinion, what characteristics are shared by day-counters?
About five counted the days to departure and three did not. Day-counters were not as happy!