Anybody who’s seen The Martian knows lighting fires outside the confines of our blue, terrestrial home is not always the safest thing to do.
While the lack of oxygen in the vacuum of space makes fire literally impossible, us pathetic humans are generally confined to the very oxygen-rich structures we’ve cobbled together up there.
That means it’s pretty bloody necessary for NASA to find out exactly what happens when fire takes over. To get an idea, they’ve revealed an unmanned module will soon be the orbiting testing-ground for a controlled but large-scale blaze.
After it’s been used to cart supplies up to the International Space Station, an Orbital ATK Cygnus capsule will be the unlucky bit of tech subjected to the test. NASA will be monitoring the heat and spread of the blaze, and using that info to better prepare the materials used in spacecraft and astronaut’s own gear.
The launch takes place on March 23, and the Saffire-1 experiment will take place after. Again, while studying the effects of microgravity on fire is essential stuff, good Lord is it funny to think about how much it’s going to cost to send the thing up, just to watch it burn.
