NASA tests burning spacecraft in space

NASA will conduct spacecraft burning experiments in space in the project "Saffire I - Burning Spaceship I" to test the effects of a large fire in space.

Accordingly, engineers at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland are developing an experiment to burn an unmanned spacecraft to observe and study how the fire broke out in space. Scientists will order the ship to catch fire, then sensors and cameras will record the fire for 20 minutes. The NASA team hopes to extinguish the fire and restore the ship, before the out-of-control fire burns the ship.

Picture 1 of NASA tests burning spacecraft in space
NASA's " Saffire I - Burning Spacecraft I " Project.(Photo: Wallpaperup)

A total of three experiments will be conducted on three consecutive flights of the Cygnus supply vessel, scheduled to take place from March 23 to October 4, 2016. Researchers need to collect a lot of data to understand how fire burns in space. They used a sealed box containing a synthetic fiber-cotton fiber to ignite, then the cameras and sensors measured CO2, oxygen, heat and temperature in the ship.

NASA's director of detailed exploration systems Jason Crusan said: " NASA's goal is to reduce the risk of long-term exploration agencies in space and a spacecraft fire as one of the concerns. NASA's largest mind and international space exploration community ".

Picture 2 of NASA tests burning spacecraft in space
This test will be " the largest artificial fire ever in space ".(Photo: Dat Viet Newspaper)

Through this experiment, NASA hopes that the collected data will be helpful in creating future fire-resistant spacecraft and help them find the right answer if the prospect of an accident occurs. Flammability of many materials will also be tested in environments with low gravity.

The results of this experiment will be very useful in many different fields on Earth as well as in space. The engineers said they not only wanted to protect future space missions , but also wanted to help researchers have better fire and explosion prevention methods for mines, airplanes, submarines, or others. where there are other gravity conditions.