Research will help create a safe environment for astronauts
Fires on spaceships – This is an unpredictable and dangerous situation that can have serious consequences. Apollo 1, which was to be the first «Apollo» with the crew, never rose from the ground due to a fire, which resulted in the death of the crew. There have been other fires on spacecraft, for example, on the Russian space station «Mir» in 1997.
In an effort to understand how fire behaves on spacecraft, in 2016 NASA began the Saffire – experiment on fire safety of spaceships. Saffire was an eight-year program of six missions to study the behavior of fire in space. Each mission used an unmanned Cygnus cargo ship after completing delivery missions to the ISS. Various experiments were carried out inside the ship in which a combustible mixture containing cotton and fiberglass was ignited. The researchers also tested the combustion of various materials, such as fire-resistant Nomex fabric and acrylic spacecraft windows. The experiments also varied atmospheric pressure, composition, and oxygen levels to gather as much information as possible about the behavior of fire aboard the spacecraft.
The last stage of the Saffire-VI program, which took place on January 9, 2024, was special. In this experiment, the oxygen level was increased and the pressure was decreased to create conditions as close as possible to reality on a spacecraft.
The main goal of research within the Saffire program – understand how a fire affects the crew and the ship. When burned in a confined space, various toxic substances are formed, such as hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen cyanide. To analyze their content, a special Combustion Product Monitor device was used, based on laser spectroscopy.
The results of the Saffire program experiments will help develop models of fire behavior on spacecraft and take appropriate precautions. This will make space missions safer and help the crew return home safely.
Thanks to the Saffire program, researchers have gained a better understanding of the likelihood and consequences of fires on spacecraft and will be able to prevent fires on future space missions.