Have you ever wondered what a drop of fuel would look like if it was set on fire in space? Astronauts on the International Space Station have made a video showing an experiment they conducted to see how burning fuel acts in the microgravity environment of outer space.
Have you ever wondered what a drop of fuel would look like if it was set on fire in space?
Astronauts on the International Space Station have made a video showing an experiment they conducted to see how burning fuel acts in the microgravity environment of outer space.
The video posted showcases the slow motion footage of NASA’s Flame Extinguishment Experiment-2, known by the acronym FLEX-2.
According to NASA, the goal of FLEX-2 is to see how different combinations of small fuel droplets burn in space.
The video footage shows what astronaut Reid Wiseman called a “jellyfish of fire,” being created by a fuel droplet that is half isooctane and half heptane.
FLEX-2 principal investigator Forman A. Williams at the University of California, San Diego is quoted as saying: “By studying the cool flames that we found in the ISS experiments, we may be able to obtain better understanding of that chemistry, which then could be helpful to the engine manufacturers in their designs."
Results of the experiment might lead to the development of spacecrafts that are safer, and contribute to the design of cleaner burning, more fuel efficient engines here on Earth.
