Magazine
January-February 2016
January-February 2016
Volume: 104 Number: 1
Flames behave very differently in space than they do on the ground.An experiment called BASS-II (for Burning and Suppression of Solids) flew on the International Space Station in 2014 and explored flame dynamics using several materials, including acrylic rods (as shown on the cover), in different rates of air flow.Tests were designed to evaluate materials that might be used in spacecraft. The principal investigator for the BASS-II experiment, Sandra L. Olson, and co-investigator Fletcher J. Miller, are coauthors of the article "Fire in Microgravity." In that article, authors Indrek Wichman, Olson, Miller, and Ashwin Hariharan detail a specific type of fire called a flamelet that can persist with very little oxygen, and then flare up to ignite dangerous fires, with implications for fire safety during longer space missions. (Cover image courtesy of ESA/NASA.)
In This Issue
- Art
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Engineering
- Environment
- Ethics
- Evolution
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Policy
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Technology
The Penguin's Palette: More Than Black and White
Daniel T. Ksepka
Evolution
This stereotypically tuxedo-clad bird shows that evolution certainly can accessorize.
Fire in Microgravity
Indrek Sven Wichman, Sandra L. Olson, Fletcher J. Miller, Ashwin Hariharan
Engineering Physics
In space, flames don’t extinguish under the same low-oxygen conditions that would put them out on Earth, setting the stage for dangerous flare-ups.
