The term applies to any life-support system from submarines to spaceships, and includes the operation of the Earth's own biosphere.
[3] He surmised that an asteroid could be "spomified" by being hollowed out and equipped suitably for long term, sustainable flight.
[4] Buckminster Fuller called the concept of a spome "an astronaut's black box", meaning that the necessities of life were supplied through the absorption of energy to cycle material resources and eject heat from the system.
Fuller's institute is furthering this concept through understanding of the Earth's comprehensive life support system.
[5] Gerard K. O'Neill does not acknowledge the term "spome", but writes about the concept in The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space.