BIOS-3 is an experimental closed ecosystem at the Institute of Biophysics in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Its construction began in 1965, and was completed in 1972. BIOS-3 consists of a underground steel structure suitable for up to three persons, and was initially used for developing closed ecological human life-support ecosystems. It was divided into 4 compartments, one of which is a crew area. The crew area consists of 3 single-cabins, a galley, lavatory and control room. Initially one other compartment was an algal cultivator, and the other two phytotrons for growing wheat or vegetables. The plants growing in the two phytotrons contributed approximately 25% of the air filtering in the compound. Dried meat was imported into the facility, and urine and feces were generally dried and stored, rather than being recycled.

BIOS-3 facilities were used to conduct 10 crewed closure experiments with a one to three person crew. The longest experiment with a three-person crew lasted 180 days (in 1972-1973). The facilities were used for the tests at least until 1984.

In 1986, Dr. Josef Gitelson, head of the Institute of Biophysics (IBP) at Krasnoyarsk and developer of biospherics as well the BIOS project, met with Oleg Gazenko, Mark Nelson, John Allen and others involved with Biosphere 2, which led to further cooperation. In 1989, a group from Biosphere 2 visited the BIOS-3 facilities. Mark Nelson and John Allen have acknowledged the importance of BIOS-3 and Russian insights to Biosphere 2.

In 1991, BIOS-3 became a part of the International Center for Closed Ecosystems, which was formed as a subdivision of Institute of Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch. Closed ecosystems research focusing on growing plants and recycling waste was resumed in 2005 in cooperation with European Space Agency.

See also

References

  • Gitelson, Iosef I., and Genry M. Lisovsky. "Creation of closed ecological life support systems: Results, critical problems and potentials." (2008).
  • BIOS-3 facility as a part of the BIOSMHARS (BIOcontamination Specific Modelling in HAbitats Related to Space) project