NASA has confirmed that humans will make a fire in space and yes, it will be on purpose. The agency’s commercial partner Orbital ATK will be launching its Cygnus spacecraft son. Filled with supplies and all kinds of scientific knick knacks, Cygnus will meet up with the ISS, unload its cargo and then suffer an interesting fate.
NASA IMPLEMEMENTS SPACE PYRO EXPERIMENT
Sending the Cygnus cargo spacecraft successfully to the ISS is hardly a thing to scoff at, but that is a just piece to a bigger puzzle for NASA. Once the capsule unloads all the supplies to the ISS, it will be then loaded up with space trash from the station. Once filled, the capsule will be lit on fire. This is all part of a controlled experiment called “Saffire”. Besides looking at a really cool fire in space, Saffire has a purpose. Igniting the capsule will help astronauts better understand how fires can spread across a spacecraft. As one can imagine, these experiences are usually best avoided, so it’s been hard to test the subject. Fire behaving in microgravity isn’t something anyone is familiar with. The space agency now seeks to find some answers.
FIRE WILL NOT POSE A THREAT TO ASTRONAUTS
It’s easy to assume that purposely setting a fire in the unpredictable realm of space is just making a dangerous situation even worse. NASA assures its skeptics that the crew will be just fine. They will have zero interaction with the fire until they’re separated from the capsule and conducting the experiment. Instead, a series of sensors will be in the capsule that will measure the overall effect fire has the burning spacecraft. The blaze will burn for 15 to 20 minutes which will provide ample time to record the necessary data.
THE END DOESN’t LOOK GOOD FOR CYGNUS
After sacrificing itself for the betterment of space, Cygnus will suffer a cruel fate. In the words of Neil Young, it’s better to burn out, then to fade away and that is just what NASA has in store for Cygnus. Once it burns out in space, Cygnus will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere only to burn out for eternity. By that point, NASA has all the information it needs. You were used Cygnus. Thank you and sorry.
