Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

Setting things on fire on the ISS to study flames in space

Georgina Torbet
By

One of the biggest threats to any space mission, especially those involving astronauts, is fire. Space agencies like NASA create a wide range of fireproof materials for different purposes, but it is still hard to fully protect against fire as differences in airflow and gravity mean fire behaves differently in space than it does on the ground.

Now, a new series of experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) aims to study fire in space to better understand how to protect future space explorers.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Thomas Marshburn configures the Combustion Integrated Rack to begin SoFIE operations.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Thomas Marshburn configures the Combustion Integrated Rack to begin SoFIE operations. NASA

“With NASA planning outposts on other planetary bodies like the Moon and Mars, we need to be able to live there with minimal risk,” said Paul Ferkul, SoFIE project scientist at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, in a statement. “Understanding how flames spread and how materials burn in different environments is crucial for the safety of future astronauts.”

Recommended Videos

A cargo ship launching today, Saturday, February 19, will carry a project called Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) to the ISS to be added to the station’s fire research chamber. As well as an experiment into fire suppression and fireproof materials, looking at how flammable materials like plexiglass and cotton-based fabrics are, it will also host experiments into how fire spreads.

Related

“On Earth, gravity has a profound influence on flames, but in the reduced gravity of space, fire can behave unexpectedly and could be more hazardous,” Ferkul said.

The idea is to see how fire behaves when it is in the microgravity environment of the space station, as opposed to the gravity which is present here on Earth. This can then be used to predict how fire might behave in lower gravity environments like the moon or Mars.

“SoFIE builds on NASA’s prior flammability research,” said Lauren Brown, a project manager at Glenn. “Like other flame studies, this research will home in on how things ignite, burn, and are extinguished in space. It will provide a foundation for continuing human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
How to watch SpaceX Crew-7 return to Earth this week
SpaceX Crew-7 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft at the start of their mission in August 2023.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Re-entry and Splashdown

SpaceX’s Crew-7 is preparing to depart the International Space Station (ISS) after a six-and-a-half-month stay aboard the orbital outpost some 250 miles above Earth. NASA will live-stream all of the key moments of the homecoming (full details below).

Read more
Meet NASA’s trio of mini moon rovers set to launch next year
Part of NASA’s CADRE technology demonstration, three small rovers that will explore the Moon together show off their ability to drive as a team autonomously – without explicit commands from engineers – during a test in a clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in December 2023.

NASA is ramping up its plans for exploring the moon, not only in terms of preparing to send astronauts there but also rovers. There's the VIPER rover, which will search for water around the lunar south pole, and now NASA is introducing a trio of mini rovers called CADRE, or Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration. These will work together as a team to map the lunar surface, testing the possibilities of using rovers in groups for future exploration.

The rovers, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are just the size of a carry-on suitcase. They are designed to move independently but share data so they can cover more ground than a single rover could. They'll have to work over a lunar day, which is about two weeks, to map out features on the surface and look below ground using radar.

Read more
Amazing Earth photos shared by outgoing ISS astronaut
Earth as seen from the International Space Station.

Andreas Mogensen became the first Dane in orbit when he arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) as part of SpaceX’s Crew-7 in August 2023.

After just over six months aboard the orbital outpost, the astronaut is now preparing to head back to Earth with his three colleagues aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Read more