ZIN Technologies

MIST - This is an image of one of the first tests conducted on ISS for the Material Ignition and Suppression Test (MIST) research led by Prof. Carlos Fernandez-Pello. The tests are being conducted within the space station's Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR).

In the MIST experiment, the end of a black acrylic rod is ignited with a hot wire igniter, after which the flame spreads upstream within a flow duct. The extinction limit is determined for each test, where it is defined by the conditions (e.g., oxygen concentration, pressure, flow rate, and heat loss) when the flame goes out. In this regard, the oxygen concentration has often been allowed to naturally drop within the chamber as a result of the combustion, while the chamber pressure was nominally held constant (by periodic partial venting from the chamber).

The green illumination seen in this photo reveals the surface of the fuel.

BASS-II - Tomorrow's testing in the ISS' Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) will feature the combustion of rods of acrylic in an oxygen/nitrogen flow. This image is from such a test conducted in 2014 as part of the Burning and Suppression of Solids-II (BASS-II), for which a summary report is available from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210011385/downloads/TM-20210011385.pdf.

The BASS research was carried out in a small fan-driven flow duct within the ISS' Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). In addition to BASS-II, there was BASS (of course) and Bass-M (where M is for Milliken). You can learn about them and other MSG experiments from NASA Glenn at https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/iss-research/msg/.

As a bit of an aside, the MSG is coincidentally located to the immediate left of the CIR within the U.S. Laboratory Module, which is called Destiny.

How private firms are reshaping space travel – DW – 01/19/2024 The US and China are racing to build the next era space stations for scientific, government and commercial use, the CEO of American startup Voyager Space Holdings, Dylan Taylor, tells DW's Editor-in-Chief, Manuela Kasper-Claridge.

Great Results! Great work building and testing this payload by the ZIN Technologies Team!!

Saffire Ignites New Discoveries in Space | NASA Glenn Research Center A sample of polymethyl methacrylate, also known as Plexiglas, was burned in the Saffire-V experiment. Ribs were manufactured into the material to see how the...

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY - The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) are jointly seeking proposals in the general field of fluid dynamics, particulate and multiphase processes, combustion and fire systems, thermal transport processes, and nanoscale interactions for testing on the International Space Station (ISS).

Proposals are due by 4 March 2024, but feasibility review forms must be submitted by 10 January 2024.

For details, see www.combustioninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/nsf2450168.pdf

PHOTO - The photo is from the Cool Flames Investigation with Gases (CFI-G), which had earlier been selected for spaceflight by NSF and CASIS. It was carried out in the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) in 2021 as part of the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project. The CFI-G research was led by Profs. Peter Sunderland, Rich Axelbaum, and Forman Williams. Learn more at www.issnationallab.org/upward-62-nsf-cool-flames/.

This image is of a hot inverse flame, where the chamber was filled with a flammable gas and an oxygen/nitrogen mixture flowed from the porous spherical burner. As a result, the soot is outside rather than inside of the flame.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY - At that time, preparations were underway for the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) research that is now being carried out in the ISS' Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR).

On this day, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren (www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kjell-n-lindgren), seen here, was checking filter, hose, and gas connections.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY - iss067e003895 (April 6, 2022) - NASA astronaut and Expedition 67 Commander Thomas Marshburn configures hardware on the chamber insert for the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) project. The research, conducted within the ISS' Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), is focused on improving fire safety within spacecraft.

ZIN Technologies is proud to join the Voyager Space Team!!

Voyager Space Acquires ZIN Technologies, Inc. /PRNewswire/ -- Voyager Space, a global leader in space exploration, announced today the acquisition of ZIN Technologies, Inc. (ZIN), a leading engineering,...

SCIENCE TEAM - This Jan. 13 photo was taken on the first day of flame testing for the Growth and Extinction Limit (GEL) study, which is part of the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) project. Paul Ferkul, the SoFIE Project Scientist is on the left while Dennis Stocker is on the right. Stocker is the Project Scientist for the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project, where its tests preceded SoFIE in the ISS' Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR).

Other SoFIE/GEL science team members can be seen in the background.

Combustion researchers typically have backgrounds in mechanical engineering, but degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering are also appropriate. But some schools have focused programs, where an example is the University of Maryland’s Fire Protection Engineering program.

The SoFIE experiments are led by investigators from the Case Western Reserve University, NASA Glenn Research Center, San Diego State University, UC Berkeley, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

GROUND OPERATIONS - This Jan. 13 photo was taken within NASA Glenn's ISS Payload Operations Center (https://gipoc.grc.nasa.gov/wp/) on the first test day with flames for the Growth and Extinction Limit (GEL) experiment.

While the space station crew set up the hardware, fuel samples, and gas bottles within the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), the tests are remotely controlled from workstations within this operations center in northeast Ohio. The operations team controls the CIR and the hardware within it for the current Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) project, of which GEL is a part.

In the foreground, Sharon Reinke is in the Payload Developer (PD) position, from which the key SoFIE hardware is controlled, while another team member (not seen) remotely commanded the CIR itself. But Reinke has many roles including planning, crew procedure development, crew training, and crew operations.

Meanwhile, Angie Adams, the SoFIE Operations Lead, looks on from the Systems Engineering workstation. In her role, Adams is similarly engaged in a breadth of activities. For example, she regularly serves as the Rack Officer (RO) in which she oversees the SoFIE ground operations on its test days, the most recent of which occurred on Wednesday. Meanwhile, her Thursday included planning for the operations of the Material Ignition and Suppression Test (MIST) experiment with the visiting investigator, Prof. Carlos Fernandez-Pello (UC Berkeley). MIST testing is expected to begin in mid-2023 after the completion of the GEL tests.

ACME - This is a time sequence from the final ISS test of the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project, which was conducted just over a year ago on 4 Feb. 2022. It was carried out in support of the Flame Design experiment led by Prof. Rich Axelbaum of the Washington University of St. Louis (https://engineering.wustl.edu/faculty/Richard-Axelbaum.html).

In the inverse-flame test, the combustion chamber was filled with gaseous fuel and nitrogen while an oxygen/nitrogen mixture flowed outward from the porous spherical burner. The flame grew with time to reach enough fuel to consume the oxygen. Ceramic fibers, 14-microns in diameter and finer than a human hair, were inserted for optical determination of the flame temperature.

As the flame grew, its radiative heat loss increased, causing the flame to weaken and become dimmer. The flame's temperature dropped, which is indicated by the hue of the glowing ceramic fibers, where yellow is hotter than orange, which in turn is hotter than red.

ISS testing is now underway for the Growth and Extinction Limit (GEL) investigation of the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) project, where the next test day is scheduled on Feb. 8.

GEL - Today is the third day of testing with flames for the Growth and Extinction Limit (GEL) experiment led by Prof. James T'ien, https://engineering.case.edu/profiles/jst2. Preparations, including replacement of the acrylic spheres which are burned in the study, were carried out on Monday by astronaut Frank Rubio, https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/frank-rubio. This Jan. 30 photo [iss068e043130] shows Rubio at the ISS's Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) where the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) hardware can be seen within the open combustion chamber.

ZIN is proud to have built and supported this hardware during on orbit operations for NASA's Glenn Research Center. Great work by our ACME and CIR teams!

FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY - From mid-January to early February 2019, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques set up the hardware for the first round of ISS testing for the Burning Rate Emulator (BRE) experiment, https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/iss-research/iss-fcf/cir/acme/experiments/bre/. In this Jan. 31 photo [ISS058e008801], he was replacing hardware on the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) chamber insert for the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR).

BRE publications with the ISS results include:
- A. Snegirev, E. Kuznetsov, E. Markus, P. Dehghani, P.B. Sunderland, “Transient dynamics of radiative extinction in low-momentum microgravity diffusion flames,” Proc. Combust. Inst., 38(3), 4815-4823.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2020.06.110
- P. Dehghani, P.B. Sunderland, J.G. Quintiere, J.L. de Ris, 2021, “Burning in Microgravity: Experimental Results and Analysis,” Combustion and Flame, 228 (2021) 315-330.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2021.01.035
- P. Dehghani, J.G. Quintiere, “Theoretical Analysis and Predictions of Burning in Microgravity Using a Burning Emulator,” Combustion and Flame, 233 (2021) 111572.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2021.111572

Meanwhile, the most recent paper is in press:
- P. Dehghani, J.L. de Ris, J.G. Quintiere, "Demonstrating steady burning for small flat materials in microgravity in a quiescent ambient," Proc. Combust. Inst.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2022.08.107

GEL - The first flames for the Growth and Extinction Limit (GEL) experiment and more generally the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) project were ignited on the ISS on Jan. 13. This image from the first test reveals a sooty flame enveloping a burning sphere of poly(methyl methacrylate), i.e., PMMA, which is better known as acrylic, Plexiglass, etc. The flame extends to the left as a result of the forced gas flow from right to left.

From https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/iss-research/iss-fcf/cir/sofie/, the investigation "will concentrate on the flame growth, decay and extinction over the surface of a non-flat thick solid in microgravity. In particular, a solid sphere of substantial size (i.e. 4 to 5 cm diameter) is chosen as a representative of non-flat samples. In addition to the parameters influencing the flammability in thin solids, the degree of interior heat-up is an important parameter on the solid burning characteristics of thick specimen. In spherical samples, the degree of interior heating is always changing. The problem is therefore unsteady in nature. In addition, flow around a sphere is different from that around a flat surface. The existence of a forward stagnation point, shoulder and wake regions result in different local flow pattern, hence a different flame-solid interaction. These can affect the burning and extinction characteristics."

Using the initial trial results, plans are being made for the next day of GEL testing which is scheduled on Jan. 26. Meanwhile, needed calibration of the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), in which the SoFIE research is conducted, is being carried out tomorrow.

Best Space Station Science Imagery of 2022 The International Space Station continues its scientific journey orbiting over 200 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Parham Dehghani Receives IAFSS Best Thesis Award Dehghani will present his research at the 14th symposium next fall.

Today in history…

This is us 🌍

On Dec. 7, 1972, the crew of Apollo 17 took this photo of Earth as they journeyed to the Moon. Known today as the "Blue Marble," this picture has since become one of the most iconic images of our home world.

Full-size download: https://images.nasa.gov/details-as17-148-22727
Follow along with the Apollo 17 mission in real time: https://apolloinrealtime.org/17/

Splashdown.

NASA’s Orion Spacecraft successfully completed a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 12:40pm ET (17:40 UTC) as the final major milestone of the I mission. https://go.nasa.gov/3uGhqqd

FELIX WEINBERG - The microgravity study of flames under the influence of an electric field was pioneered by Prof. Felix Weinberg of Imperial College London, seen in this photo. He had been a Co-Investigator on the Electric-Field Effects on Laminar Diffusion Flames (E-FIELD Flames) experiment, but unfortunately died several years before the investigation was conducted on the ISS as part of the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project.

From Weinberg's Royal Society biography at https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2021.0012
written by E-FIELD Flame's Principal Investigator, Prof. Derek Dunn-Rankin (UC Irvine):
Felix returned to the field of electrically forced flames by concentrating on combustion in domains where the electric body force dominates. This occurs especially under microgravity conditions since the density-driven body force is then absent. The initial brilliant proof of concept experiment demonstrating how electric fields can control flames in microgravity was carried out with his colleague Fred Carleton in an aircraft flying in a parabolic trajectory that produced extended periods of microgravity (21). The images from this paper show very clearly that a candle flame in an electric field at zero gravity has the same appearance as candle flame without electrical influence in Earth gravity, except that the flame burns aligned in the direction of the electric field. This study showed that for flames of this size the electric body force and the buoyancy body force are nearly matched. This led Felix to consider how electric fields might be used to simulate microgravity conditions in 1g, how electric fields could be used for extinguishing flames in microgravity, how to create an all-electric burner for combustion without buoyancy without any moving parts and, finally, the detailed evaluation of the effects of electric fields on microgravity flames. These last studies continued long after Felix's death (Chien et al. 2019; Tinajero & Dunn-Rankin 2019).

A 2022 paper by Chien et al. with ISS results from E-FIELD Flames may be found via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2022.112443.

Meanwhile, Prof. Weinberg's early life is movingly described in his book "Boy 30529: A Memoir"(www.versobooks.com/books/1577-boy-30529) which was published shortly after his death.

Prof. Weinberg loved nature and this photo of him was taken in Richmond Park (www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park), which is located in metropolitan London.

COSMIC COMBUSTION - A one-paragraph article with this title, about the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project, appears on page 22 of the Oct. issue of the National Geographic Magazine. While September isn't quite over, the Oct. issue can now be found on newsstands.

The printed article is a minor variant of that which can be found online at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/in-space-flames-become-otherworldly. While there is only a single paragraph, the article takes up ~60% of the page because of the inclusion of this photo collage of "otherworldly" flames from the ACME's Flame Design experiment.

NASA Manages Astronaut Health with Effective Diagnostics Research NASA is testing a suite of medical diagnostic devices aboard the International Space Station that will help astronauts evaluate their physical condition in space.

Flames in space are otherworldly—and tomatoes on Earth feel the heat Science news includes fiery experiments on the International Space Station, threats to pasta sauce, and a comeback for macaws.

SOFIE - Preparations continue on the ISS for the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) project, for which the first experiment is Growth and Extinction Limit (GEL). ISS operations including hardware characterization are planned for SoFIE on Sept. 7.

Meanwhile, this photo [iss066e143731] is from 14 Feb. 2022 when NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei was working to configure the optical bench around the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) chamber for SoFIE. Vande Hei took the photo, while NASA astronaut Kayla Barron is partially seen making the shape of a heart with her hands, perhaps for the holiday. This was just 1.5 weeks after the completion of ISS testing for the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project.

NASA Invites Media to Witness World's First Planetary Defense Test NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world's first mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards, will impact its target asteroid-which poses no threat to Earth-at 7:14 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 26.

It's a Big Rocket!

🟢 Engines
🟢 Solid Rocket Boosters
🟢 Core Stage
🟢 Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter
🟢 Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage
🟢 Orion Stage Adapter
Get familiar with all the parts of the SLS rocket before launch by checking out our "Clickable Rocket" >> https://go.nasa.gov/3AFJ9ek

Which site will they pick??

The 13 candidate landing regions for the III mission were identified based on different criteria that help to ensure a safe landing and achieve science objectives.

NASA will continue to discuss the regions with the scientific community. https://go.nasa.gov/3QB1VJx

Wow great picture!

Giant news from a giant planet!

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured a new view of Jupiter, uncovering clues to the planet’s inner life in a new image processed by citizen scientist Judy Schmidt. Moons, rings and distant galaxies are also visible. Get the details: https://go.nasa.gov/3R0EglE