NASA Will Start 'Large Fire' In Space Next Week

NASA is going to start a "large fire" in space to see how the flames spread in a microgravity environment.

The test will happen on one of NASA's Cygnus supply vehicles after it undocks from the International Space Station (ISS) next week.

It will back away to a "safe distance" before a sealed box inside the vehicle - filled with cotton-fibreglass - is ignited.

Understanding how the fire spreads in space is crucial for planning safety features on future deep space missions, such as sending astronauts to Mars.

Project manager Gary Ruff said: "A spacecraft fire is one of the greatest crew safety concerns for NASA and the international space exploration community."

Previous fire experiments have taken place on manned space vehicles such as the space shuttle and ISS, but for safety reasons they have been limited in scope.

The Cygnus experiment will be monitored by on-board high-definition video cameras and other equipment.

The experiment will take just a few hours to run, but the craft will remain in space for around a week while all of the results data is sent back to Earth.

It will then be destroyed upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

A second craft called Saffire II will be launched in June for another experiment, which will see a mix of nine materials - all routinely used on the ISS - ignited.

These include flame retardant fabrics used for astronaut clothing and Plexiglass window samples.

NASA's lead investigator said: "(This experiment) seeks to answer two questions: will an upward spreading flame continue to grow or will microgravity limit the size?

"Secondly, what fabrics and materials will catch fire and how will they burn?"