Spaceship Earth is the true adventure of eight visionaries who in 1991 spent two years quarantined inside of a self-engineered replica of Earth’s ecosystem called BIOSPHERE 2. The experiment was a worldwide phenomenon, chronicling daily existence in the face of life-threatening ecological disaster and growing criticism that it was nothing more than a cult. The bizarre story is both a cautionary tale and a hopeful lesson of how a small group of dreamers can potentially re-imagine a new world.

Once you’ve watched the film, check out the recording of the live discussion we co-presented with Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The panel included filmmaker Matt Wolf, two of the Biospherians, and was moderated by Sant Director of NMNH Kirk Johnson.