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An Overview of Smoke Detection and Spacecraft Fire Safety in Low Gravity
CLAIRE FORTENBERRY, Marit Meyer, David Urban, Daniel Dietrich, Gary Ruff, Universities Space Research Association
Abstract Number: 620
Working Group: Combustion
Abstract
Spacecraft fires pose a major risk to human activity in space. Flames behave differently under low gravity conditions; for example, materials classified as non-flammable on Earth may exhibit different flammability limits in low gravity. Additionally, the lack of gravity in space challenges spacecraft smoke detection. In an indoor fire under normal gravity, buoyant smoke particles rise to form a layer at the ceiling, where commercial smoke detectors are typically placed. In low gravity, however, this stratification does not occur, and longer timescales are needed for smoke particles to reach sufficiently high concentrations to induce detector responses. Furthermore, suspended dust in low gravity can trigger false alarms because of long particle settling timescales, confounding detector placement within the spacecraft.
The next lunar landing is targeted for 2024 as the primary goal of NASA’s Artemis program. Plans for a future long-term human presence on the moon motivate the need for improved smoke detection technology in low and partial gravity. In this presentation, we provide an overview of spacecraft fire safety and smoke detection studies to date, and we review current efforts to improve our understanding of smoke particle detection under low gravity conditions. Finally, we discuss anticipated challenges for ensuring fire safety in a future lunar habitat.