Biosphere 2 up for sale

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

For an update on biosphere 2, see the below from CNN.

Biosphere 2 up for sale

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- The company that owns Biosphere 2 Center, 3.1

glass-enclosed acres designed to simulate the Earth's environment,

has put the site up for sale.

The company is also selling 70 other buildings on the center's 140-

acre campus 16 miles north of Tucson, said Bannon,

general manager of Decisions Investment Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas.

" We'd love to see the Biosphere 2 used as a research activity, but we

know that may not be the end result, " he said last week.

Texas billionaire Ed Bass, president of Decisions Investment, spent

more than $200 million to build Biosphere 2 in the 1980s as a

prototype for a space colony.

The closed ecological site 16 miles north of Tucson contained

miniatures of Earth's rainforest, ocean, desert and other

environmental features.

In 1991, eight " biospherians " were sealed inside for a two-year stay.

But the project was plagued by rising costs and other setbacks and

Columbia University assumed responsibility for the site under a

management agreement, turning it into a research and education

facility.

The relationship with Columbia ended in September 2003 and Biosphere

2 has been open as a tourist destination.

Cheers, Al Pater.