Why Nasa wants to light a fire on the Moon
- Published
Nasa scientists are planning an experiment that sounds a bit wild, to light a fire on the Moon.
First of all, no one is building a giant bonfire on the lunar surface, that wouldn't work anyway, because the Moon has almost no air, and fire needs oxygen to burn.
Instead, Nasa wants to burn four tiny pieces of material inside a sealed metal container, with the tests being prepared for later this year.
It is part of the American space agency's wider plan to learn how humans could potentially live and work safely on the Moon for longer periods in the future.
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The fire experiment is called FM2, which stands for Flammability of Materials on the Moon. 'Flammability' simply means how easily something catches fire and burns.
Nasa wants to find out whether materials used in spacesuits, rovers, spacecraft or future lunar homes could burn differently on the Moon than they do on Earth.
During the experiment, cameras and sensors will watch what happens, including how fast the flame spreads, how much oxygen the fire uses and how much heat it makes.
What are conditions like on the Moon?
Why Nasa wants to know how fire burns on the Moon
Fire in space is extremely dangerous.
On Earth, if there is a fire, people can often leave the building and firefighters can arrive to put it out.
On the Moon there's unlikely to be a lot of people around to help and an evacuation isn't as easy as simply stepping outside.
It means that, if a fire started inside a base, spacecraft or rover, astronauts would need the training and knowledge in order to deal with it carefully and very quickly.
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Nasa has already studied fire on spacecraft and the International Space Station, but the Moon is different.
Fire may also act strangely because gravity on the Moon is much weaker than on Earth.
The Moon's gravity is about one-sixth as strong as ours.
On Earth, hot air rises above a flame, helping create the familiar teardrop shape.
On the Moon, that rising movement would be weaker, so flames could be rounder, slower or behave in ways scientists do not fully understand yet.
Some materials that seem safe on Earth might even burn more easily in lunar conditions.
The results of the experiments could help scientists choose safer materials for future astronaut Moon missions.