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  • ESA/NASA

    NASA conducts largest fire experiment in space (update)

    by 
    Mariella Moon
    Mariella Moon
    06.16.2016

    As part of its efforts to ensure the safety of spacefarers, NASA set a 16x37-inch block of cotton-fiberglass material on fire aboard a spacecraft that's making its way back home. Since the largest material NASA ever burned in space before this was the size of an index card, this is now officially the biggest fire experiment conducted outside our planet. The Spacecraft Fire Experiment or Saffire-I, as it's officially called, happened aboard the Cygnus spacecraft that ferried the ISS' largest delivery back in March.