Summary
September marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the 2-year Biosphere 2 closed habitat experiment. While that experiment’s scientific findings have been overshadowed by high-profile crew conflicts and technological failures, a more modest attempt to simulate a Martian habitat is just beginning inside a test module originally built for Biosphere 2. The researchers behind the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) aim to have a smaller, hermetically sealed system in which scientists can test crew compatibility and space technology before liftoff, as well as observe the changeover from imported air to air recycled by plants in SAM’s greenhouse.