search

UMD    CORE





After a one-year hiatus, the Burning Rate Emulator (BRE) – an experiment that focuses on spacecraft fire behavior, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) – began again on September 3. The BRE experiment – first ignited on the ISS on February 8, 2019 and managed by NASA astronauts – will be run once each week through mid-November of this year.

The BRE uses gaseous fuels to determine the flammability of solids in microgravity. The BRE burners — flat, round and porous with embedded heat-flux sensors — allow measurements of burning rate, extinction characteristics, and radiative environments for a broad range of solids. The tests are offering information about how materials, such as paper and plastic, burn in microgravity.

"The biggest surprise so far is that these flames burn a long time," said FPE Professor and Co-Investigator, Peter Sunderland." Most people predicted they would go out quickly, but we've learned that isn't the case at all." The observations suggest that several materials previously thought to safe are in fact flammable in microgravity.

This experiment, supported by NASA and coordinated by Dennis Stocker of NASA Glenn, was launched into orbit aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule on June 3, 2017. Additional team members include Parham Dehghani (ME Ph.D. student), John deRis, Liora Mervis (FPE B.S. student), James Quintiere (PI and FPE Professor Emeritus), and Anna Wright (FPE M.S. student).


Related media:

UMD Fire Researchers Ignite the First of Two Space Station Experiments, Feb 2019



Related Articles:
Department Welcomes New Faculty Member Tam Nguyen
Alumna Blasts Into Space
Ask An Engineer: Space Travel
Hartzell Mission Scientist for NASA SIMPLEx Janus Mission
Two UMD Teams Take Best in Theme at NASA’s RASC-AL Competition
Sutherland Wins First Place in SAMPE Research Competition
UMD alumna Jeanette Epps Tapped for Boeing Starliner Spaceflight
Unraveling the Mysteries of Asteroids
Dust in Space
Grenfell Tower Inquiry Releases Expert Report from Jose Torero

September 10, 2020


«Previous Story  

 

 

Current Headlines

Madeline Fischer Wins 2024 European Rotorcraft Forum Padfield Award

Project Embraces Tribal History With Modern Technology

Department Welcomes New Faculty Member Tam Nguyen

UMD Student Receives Wings Foundation Scholarship

Maryland Engineers Take On Big Challenges in Medicine

Two Clark School Engineers Named Associate Fellows of Aeronautics and Astronautics Institute

Meet the A. James Clark Scholars Class of ’28

Aerospace Engineering Celebrates 75 Years

Eleven University of Maryland Faculty Affiliate With MATRIX Lab

Driven by Purpose: Sylvie DeLaHunt Honored for Leadership in Diversity and STEM Advocacy

 
 
Back to top  
CORE Home Clark School Home UMD Home Aerospace Engineering