There are a lot of things people are advised not to do when they have restricted access to oxygen supply. Lighting a fire comes on top of the list. However, NASA went beyond this rule and deliberately started a fire on large scale over a spacecraft. Sounds a bit nasty, doesn’t it? But that’s not the case, NASA was aiming to carry out a pyrotechnic experiment for quite some time now. Named as “Saffire 1”, the fire was started from a remote location last evening over the Orbital ATK Cygnus resupply vehicle that left the ISS with a lot of space trash a few hours ago.
It is first of the three experiments planned by the agency that are aimed to understand the fire dynamics in micro or zero gravity. It will really help out astronauts in preparing themselves if they ever encounter a deadly situation in space. The experiment actually took place in a 3ft x 3ft x 5ft box that was made up of cotton fiberglass test material. It was completely sealed from end-to-end. The images, temperature, oxygen & carbon dioxide levels, and all other aspects of this experiment are currently being recorded by Orbitak ATK and a team of engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Together, they will analyze the results of this experiment in upcoming weeks. The agency has scheduled two more experiments in coming days.
The agency will make images of this experiment public soon but, for now, it just declared that the experiment was successful. It is safe to assume that no large sized ball of burning trash is going to fall on us or pass over our heads anytime sooner. While the whole world is waiting for more news and analytic reports on this experiment, NASA is giving some hints about it with some teaser graphics. You can safely assume more fireworks in coming months.
Filed Under: News
Questions related to this article?
👉Ask and discuss on Electro-Tech-Online.com and EDAboard.com forums.
Tell Us What You Think!!
You must be logged in to post a comment.