Imagine humanity has traveled not just to the moon but also to Mars. Not just travel but also residing comfortably under a biodome where all of their life-sustaining needs such as oxygen, water, and food are met and continually resourced. It is a seemingly far reaching fantasy and the stuff of science fiction dreams.
Not quite for a group of visionaries who call themselves the Synergists.
They were passionate, concerned ecologists who did more than just complain or debate the matter. They pooled together their combined talents and resources to create projects that defied convention and willpower. From a successful and sustainable commune to building a ship from scratch (that actually sailed) and then to engineering the Biosphere2, we see this in the documentary, Spaceship Earth.
What was Biosphere2? It was a large, multi-million dollar biodome that was a scaled down version of Earth (Biosphere1) under a structured dome. There was a mini ocean with coral, a mini rainforest, farming land, creatures, and living quarters. The Synergists scouted eight people to be the ones to test out this Biodome for two years. Those eight chosen people wore jumpsuits and were dubbed the Biospherians.
This really happened. This was a time when I was too young to remember but this happened. In Arizona.
Thank to Director Matt Wolf and his team, the efforts of the Synergists and Biospherians is briefly chronicled in this documentary.
The crew visited the heart of the Synergists at their commune, Synergeria Ranch, in New Mexico. The team not only conducted interviews but they also gained access to about 600 hours of archival footage.
The Synergists seemed to just be corporeal forms of passion. They were genius in management and engineering but also were devoted thespians. There is footage of theater plays and exercises in expressions sprinkled throughout the film. It should be jarring but it just adds to their character profile of how much energy and passion they had.
They were united in the idea that Earth is damaged and dying from humanity carbon footprint and they needed to do something about it. And they did. They worked hard in establishing business connections and nurturing enterprises to help fund their work and their movement.
There was so much going on. We get to see brief glimpses of raw footages as we watch interviews of the Synergists and Biospherians as they recount their time working on the projects. We see their perspective as they handled the media and the troubles they went through building and maintaining the biodome. It was decades ago but it is still a powerful memory. That energy and willpower does not seem to diminish as they continue their movements on sustainability and saving Earth.
With respect to their efforts of the Synergists and Biospherians, it is the biodome that we are most curious about. Just like the media was fascinated with questions and skepticism, it is the same now for fresh viewers of the project. This curiosity of the Biosphere2 grows with each minute of the documentary. This is a moment for questions to be answered, hidden stories to be shared.
Instead, we are just given a fast timeline of when the doors first opened, how it was great, then how it was not with depleting oxygen levels, and then when the doors open two years later. We see brief raw footage of farming, occasional temper tantrums, an odd dance number compilation. With over 600 hours of footage, it would have been more fascinating to see the human stories of daily struggles and toils. Did they brush their teeth? Was flouride factored into sustainability? Was toilet paper?
All we see is what the public saw from afar. That was another interesting tidbit. The Biosphere2 was mainly glass and steel beams so they were able to open up the surrounding area to the public to conduct tours. It is now used by University of Arizona(https://biosphere2.org/) and has become a destination for science education.
At the end, despite their claims, it wasn’t really a successful project as they did have to pump in oxygen. And the hand accident that required outside medical attention. Therefore it all defeated the purposed of enclosed system.
Despite that, it did achieve way more than was expected. They created something that did last for 2 years that worked about 98% as an enclosed biodome. It is a great test idea for any future non Earth planetary accommodations but it is not something that can be recreated to test theories. Unless I was truly desperate, I would not base my future Mars biodome home on this idea. It was not a science experiment, it was a science adventure.
For the Biospherians, it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that can never be mimicked.
Spaceship Earth is a great documentary for the curious minded in this project from recent history. It definitely makes one feel that nothing is truly impossible. Especially if you had the assistance of a billionaire who shared your passion.
What unites them is an ethos of learning by doing, and the ability to coalesce diverse skills around a common goal. But as I was making the film, I realized that I’m part of a third small group—our filmmaking team, driven by the goal to tell a story that we believe has been misunderstood, and to reappraise the complex legacy of a group of people, who attempted to reimagine the world.- Matt Wolf
The documentary is out now, May 8th, and can be rented from Laemmle theaters HERE.
