NASA scientists are having some fiery plans to improve their understanding about how flames behave in a microgravity environment.
"Understanding how fire spreads in a microgravity environment is critical to the safety of astronauts who live and work in space. And while NASA has conducted studies aboard the space shuttle and International Space Station, risks to the crew have forced these experiments to be limited in size and scope," explains NASA's website.
Saffire, the controlled experiment, will take place in the "belly" of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft. It was released at 9:30 a.m. ET today from the International Space Station.
The fire was planned to be lit in the afternoon, five hours after the release of the capsule that can ensure that it is at a safe distance from the International Space Station.
Scientists have planned for a cotton and fiberglass composite material, measuring about 3-feet by 1-foot to be inflamed with a hot wire that will lead to the largest controlled fire in space. Within the belly of the spacecraft, the fire is estimated to burn for 20 minutes, even as sensors and cameras are fired to gather information about it.
With the experiment, NASA scientists can learn better ways to detect and manage flames in space, which is vitally important for crew missions in the future.
Cygnus will then remain in space for several days to see that the data from the Saffire experiment comes back to Earth. Other Cygnus capsules can repeat the experiment on earth, according to NASA.
"Saffire seeks to answer two questions," David Urban, Saffire's principal investigator, said earlier this year. "Will an upward spreading flame continue to grow or will microgravity limit the size? Secondly, what fabrics and materials will catch fire and how will they burn?"
After the information is collected, Cygnus, packed with trash from the International Space Station, will just get ignited after re-entering the earth's atmosphere.
