purpose, will ignite an unmanned ship, the time that is in orbit around the planet.
NASA has made in the past experiments with controlled fires beyond the limits of earth’s atmosphere.
However, this is the first time you will study in practice how spread a great fire in the interior of a space capsule.
This study is critical for the safety of current and future space missions,” notes Gary Ruff, engineer of the Research Center the NASA Glenn and a member of the team that designed the experiment.
The aim is to measure the height of the flames, the speed of their dissemination, as the heat will be produced. Also, will the gases be released from the combustion of materials of the capsule.
For the experiment we used a space freighter” Cygnus of the company Orbital Sciences, which was set on fire after the load it carries reach the International Space Station.
The unmanned spacecraft is planned to be launched on March 23 from cape Canaveral, with the help of a rocket Atlas 5.
The first phase of the mission provides for the attachment of the capsule to the Station, for the supply of supplies.
When the “barge” depart from the Station, and found on a sufficiently large distance, then the Control Center will detonate the incendiary device that will be located in the interior of.
The experiment has been code-named Saffire-1 and will help the engineers of the space agency to determine how much amount of flame retardants should have the materials in the interior of a spaceship, but also the equipment of the astronauts.
In addition, it will enable researchers to develop better systems of fire safety, but also to study the effect it has on a fire the limited amount of oxygen and the conditions of microgravity.
“For years, there have been a number of experiments with a view to better understand the consequences of a fire in the space,” notes Raff.
However, as he adds, until now the tests were done on a very small scale, with the flames not to exceed a height of a few inches.
“To really understand what’s going on, you’ll have to experiment on a more realistic scale”, completes.
The fire is expected to last about 20 minutes, while I filmed. At the same time, special sensors will record continuously the temperature and levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
According to the calculations of NASA, a few days after the burning of the capsule, the remains of it will enter the earth’s atmosphere, with the result that it was dissolved.
NASA will ignite a spaceship in orbit
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