For this group of friends that could be described as a mix of scientists and freethinkers, the world was an adventure and constant challenge. Starting off with small experiments and conferences, they built a ship to sail around the world and opened science-related businesses everywhere, which allowed them to earn enough money to continue their idyllic journey. But their biggest project was yet to come: an artificially-built ecosystem where they planned to live for two years, perform experiments to tackle climate change, and take a first step towards designing a space where mankind can live outside of the Earth, in the case that we’d ever destroyed the planet. Naturally, things didn’t run smoothly as they had imagined and they faced technical difficulties, communal-living problems, sensationalism, and unscrupulous investors and politicians. In the end, their adventure turned out a bittersweet experience.
The plot of the documentary Spaceship Earth is worthy of a sci-fi film and the events that occurred inside Biosphere 2 can be hard to believe. Its participants, enterprising to the extreme, were geniuses with a thirst for experimentation and innovation. They went through many difficulties —personal, technical and those stemming from an idealism-crushing environment— to achieve their dreams. Science, nature, climate change, power, economic, and political interests are all addressed in this documentary, but above all else, it tells the incredible story of its participants who radiate life, hope, passion for our dreams, and finally, dignity, in spite of it all. A moving documentary that gives food for thoughts, thanks to the endearing protagonists and a delightful score.
