Gravity is trying to kill us with Fire… the science of fire & gravity’s role in brightening the flame
You may think it’s child’s play, a second grade science lesson, or maybe you think its just plain dumb. But truth be told, fire is an astonishing phenomenon in the most basic ways and a review of just what fire would be like under certain conditions makes science that much more intriguing when you forget there’s a science behind it at all…
The picture shown is of two flames one under our earthly conditions, the other in outerspace/zero gravity. First recall what zero gravity does not have: abundant oxygen. Fire eats oxygen. Without oxygen fire starves. Hence the almost inability of fire to be lit in zero gravity without the assistance of oxygen tanks that douse the source to keep the fire lit (think: space shuttles/space stations). My summary is more of a verbose commentary on i09’s much more comprehensive look at fire under zero gravity, and I highly recommend a review of this short but sweet article if you feel the fire within ;) i09: How does fire behave in zero gravity (source link for image & article content)
Godspeed,
-daplunga
