Into the age of biospherics

Attending the First International Conference on Life Support and Biospherics held in Huntsville, AL in 1992 made it abundantly clear to me that an exciting new field was emerging and that it would usher in a new age of highly integrated science and technology. Yet, this field was so broad and integrated that it lacked definition and direction. Through my involvement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) program, I have considered the task of trying to help define this fledgling field and have realized that it is no small task. My attempts to do so will begin with two examples of possible space biospherics situations of the future. I will then move to a brief description of CELSS as an early example of biospherics and the concept of plants as biological throttles and then progress to the proposal of questions that may be relevant to understanding this field in which we are attempting to understand and emulate the Earth's bioregenerative life support systems. A brief justification and plea for efforts in biospherics will follow. Finally, a definition with goals and examples is developed and proposed.