Smoke Aerosol Measuremen Experiment (SAME)

Published

March 5, 2010

Author(s)

Jiann Yang, Thomas Cleary, D L. Urban, Gary A. Ruff, William Sheredy, Zeng-guang Yuan, G W. Mulholland

Abstract

This is the final report of a research project entitled Smoke Aerosol Measurements Experiment (SAME). Smoke and/or fire detection in the spacecraft is crucial to the success of future long term space travel. It has been realized that the gravity force plays a significant role in these processes. The objective of SAME is to develop a space experiment to determine the particle size distribution of the smoke from a variety of overheated spacecraft materials. The size distribution measurement is based on the moment method. The experiments were conducted in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on the International Space Station (ISS). during Expedition 15. Five materials, typical of those found in spacecraft, were tested, including cellulose (lamp wick), Kapton sheet, silicone rubber, Teflon and dibutyl-phthalate retained in a cotton wick. In order to simulate detection of a pre-fire overheated-material event, samples were heated to temperatures below the ignition point. The transport time from the smoke source to the detector was simulated by holding the smoke in an aging chamber for times ranging from 10 s to 1800 s. Smoke particle samples were collected on Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) grids for post-flight analysis. The smoke properties were measured using particulate aerosol diagnostics that measure different moments of the size distribution. For comparison, smoke detectors from the ISS and the space shuttle were also included in the SAME apparatus. The experimental results show that, for the materials tested, a substantial portion of the smoke particles are below 500 nm in diameter. The smoke transport model demonstrated that mixing dominates the smoke transport and that consequently detection time lags are longer than in normal gravity. The knowledge gained from SAME can be used to establish design requirements for smoke detectors used in future spacecrafts.

Citation

NASA Technical Memorandum (TM)

Pub Type

Others

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Keywords

Aerosol, Detection, Fire, Flammability, Measurement, Microgravity, Smoke, Space

Citation

Yang, J. , Cleary, T. , Urban, D. , Ruff, G. , Sheredy, W. , Yuan, Z. and Mulholland, G. (2010), Smoke Aerosol Measuremen Experiment (SAME), NASA Technical Memorandum (TM), [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=904707 (Accessed October 22, 2025)