Fire Burns Differently In Space

New submitter black6host writes with this interesting snippet from Space.com: "NASA is playing with fire on the International Space Station — literally. Since March 2009, the space agency's Flame Extinguishment Experiment, or FLEX, has conducted more than 200 tests to better understand how fire behaves in microgravity, which is still not well understood. The research could lead to improved fire suppression systems aboard future spaceships, and it could also have practical benefits here on Earth, scientists said."

Comments

There is no FIRE IN SPACE YOU DUMBA

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh my god what are you idiots d

Re:There is no FIRE IN SPACE YOU DUMBA

[necro81]

Which indicates there is a simple and obvious solution for extinguishing a fire in a spacecraft: just vent it out to space. The astronauts can just hold their breath, right?

Re:There is no FIRE IN SPACE YOU DUMBA

[stealth_finger]

There goes stop drop and roll, would be more like Stop and remain motionless.

Pretend the fire is a T-Rex.

Obligatory

[mattie_p]

Screaming is different, too, from what I've heard. Or did I?

Re:Why?

[N0Man74]

Are you referring to the WDEHTBSSAA effect?

What's the big deal?

[smooth wombat]

We all know what to do if a fire breaks out in a spaceship or station. Didn't you people watch Red Planet?

You grab your fire extinguisher, point it at the fire, release the locking pin, pull the handle and get propelled across the room due to no gravity holding you in place and the fire retardant being ejected from the nozzle

Come on you geeks, get with the program!

Re:Don't Yank our Funding

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't like money spent on basic science? Go live in a yurt.

We all know what a yurt is, but the types that you are referring this question to will laugh at you thinking you can't live inside a yogurt...

Ob "benefits here on earth" debunking

[Rogerborg]

If you're trapped in a free-falling elevator, whether it's on fire or not is probably the least (or briefest) of your worries.