Day 30 - Tucson, AZ (Day 2)

The temperature dropped into the 60s last night.  We had the best sleep in days.

We toured today and ended up putting two drops of history into our jar of experiences.  The histories were established 100 years apart. 

Biosphere 2:
This extraordinary facility is located near Oracle, AZ.  Construction was started in 1986 by Space Biospheres Ventures with the goal of developing self-sustaining space-colonization technology.  The $150 million cost was privately funded.  Two missions were conducted between 1991 and 1994.  Biospherians were sealed inside the glass enclosure to measure survivability ... for 2 years the first time and for 6 months the second time. 

Decisions Investments Corporation assumed control of the property in 1994 and Columbia University managed it until 2003.  

In 2007, the University of Arizona leased the facility to support research aimed at quantifying the consequences of global climate change.

FYI ...
This facility is called Biosphere 2.  We asked about Biosphere 1 and learned it's the Earth!

We got to see almost all of the facility on a private, 1½ hour tour.  The tour was private because we happened to be there at the right time.  Our guide, Cat (for Catherine), was excellent.

Entrance

Biosphere 2 has 5 biomes
This is the Tropical Rain Forest biome

This was the Human Habitat
for the two missions

The tour started at this entrance
to the Human Habitat

This is the Tropical Ocean biome
It holds a million gallons of water and is 25'
deep at the far end.  It has a wave machine.

This bamboo has grown at a phenomenal
rate in the Tropical Savannah biome
(approximately 5' in a week)

This frankincense tree was
donated by a Sultan

Cactus
Coastal Fog Desert biome

Boojum Tree
Coastal Fog Desert biome

It takes a lot to maintain these environments.
The heating, cooling, air handling and
 plumbing systems are under Biosphere 2.

This is the South Lung.
It was used to control air pressure.
It kept Biosphere 2 from exploding or imploding.

(A West Lung served as a backup)

Inside South Lung
A 16 ton disk is supported by a vinyl membrane.
The disk raises and lowers as the pressure changes.

We felt like we stepped into another world

Carol and Cat (our guide)

Human Habitat - dining area

Human Habitat - kitchen

Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO)
consists of 3 artificial "hillslopes" that are
used to measure water cycles

This research center is so much more than we can describe here.  See http://www.b2science.org/ for more information.

Tombstone, AZ:
In mid-afternoon we drove about 75 miles and attempted to turn the calendar back 100 years. 

Tombstone is definitely groomed for tourism.  We tried to look past the merchandising to get a feel for the Old West.  Fortunately, there were few visitors late in the day.  It felt a bit like a ghost town.

AZ-80 takes us to Tombstone

It's pretty desolate

We're about 40 miles from Mexico

Boothill Cemetery is on the outskirts of town

Tombstone Courthouse

E. Allen Street

Virgil Earp was ambushed and shot outside this
location in 1881.  The building has been rebuilt.
We had dinner here.

This is one of the few original structures.

Inside the Birdcage Theatre

Returning to Tucson:
Traffic was light and the sunset was beautiful on the way home.

We saw something interesting as we passed through the Border Patrol check-point.  They had pulled a new SUV aside and were removing all of the interior panels and checking under the hood.  The road handles traffic from Nogales, Mexico.