A second mission started in 1994 but only made it six months. The story of Biosphere 2, however, has evolved well beyond the late-night punchlines, tell-all books and the Pauly Shore movie Bio-Dome.

Biosphere 2 was built from 1987 to 1991 in Oracle, Arizona. In 1984 the site was purchased by Space Biospheres Ventures and, in 1991, the first Biosphere 2 crew quarantine mission began.

Inside Biosphere 2's giant glass pyramid, tropical trees stretch 80 feet above the forest floor. Crazy ants, so named because of their erratic movements, scurry below.

Biosphere 2 lives on as a successful research site 30 years after eight people emerged from the experiment in the Arizona desert. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) ...

The crew stayed in Biosphere 2 for the full two years, but when they emerged, their experiment was largely dismissed as a scientific failure. It was, from a monetary perspective, a total disaster.

Biosphere 2 was an ambitious 1990s experiment to simulate a self-sustaining Mars colony in the Arizona desert. A new documentary details the project.

Biosphere 2, at 32540 S. Biosphere Road in Oracle, Arizona, is open every day (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, go to biosphere2.org.

Go 6 miles to the Biosphere turnoff, near Mile Marker 96, and turn south on Biosphere Road. Admission: $10-$20. Details: 520-838-6200, b2science.org.

Inside Biosphere 2's giant glass pyramid, tropical trees stretch 80 feet above the forest floor. Crazy ants, so named because of their erratic movements, scurry below.

A second mission started in 1994 but only made it six months. The story of Biosphere 2, however, has evolved well beyond the late-night punchlines, tell-all books and the Pauly Shore movie Bio-Dome.

In early October, Biosphere 2 will receive endangered Quitobaquito pupfish to introduce into its habitat. The fish hail from Arizona's Quitobaquito Springs by the U.S.-Mexico border, where water ...