Biodomes

One of the most important milestones in spaceflight exploration will surely be the creation of the first fully bioregenerative life support system: a habitat that can fully sustain humans with proper gas exchange, plant growth and cultivation, water cycling, etc.  Depending on how you look at it, biodomes can be a model for bioregenerative life support systems or the end goal product.

The preferred term for a spaceflight focused biodome is a “controlled ecological life support system.”  Various organizations have their own experimental biodomes: the Mars Desert Research Station, Biosphere 2, or Yuegong-1.

Plant growth is always critical in biodomes.  In the context of astrobotany, biodomes should support crops that are optimized for spaceflight.

Explore the history of astrobotany.