NASA Plans to Light a "Large Scale Fire" in Space
When Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft launches later this month, it's going to bring a whole bunch of experiments to space, but one in particular should be exciting. It is, in essence, a big box of fire.
NASA made a reference to the project in a press call this afternoon, referencing how it would very much like to light a "large scale fire," but before you think too hard about that scene from Gravity, it's worth going over the actual plan which does not involve setting the ISS ablaze, but it is still pretty cool.
The Spacecraft Fire Experiment (or Saffire) has been in the works for a while now, and this video from NASA's Glenn Research Center lays out the basics:
Essentially, the blaze will take place in a big box with roughly the same cubic footage as a refrigerator. It'll ride in the Cygnus vehicle until the rest of the cargo has been dropped off and Cygnus is detached and floating free, well away from the ISS. Then, the box will be set ablaze, and the data generated from the experiment-video, temperature readings, and other goodies-will be beamed back to Earth before Cygnus starts re-entry.
The reason for the test is that, well, we don't have a very good idea of how fire works in space on the order of anything much larger than a candle. And while you shouldn't expect a space station to have a working fireplace any time soon, it would be good to know what might happen if things go seriously, seriously wrong.
And if Saffire goes off without a hitch (which is to say catches on fire), we should have a better idea very soon.
Source: NASA via Gizmodo, Popular Science
