New Delhi: This news will definitely make all space enthusiasts sit up and take notice! US space agency NASA has announced an intriguing experiment that will take place in space.


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After various experiments carried out by astronauts during NASA's amazing #YearInSpace mission, this experiment will also be one of a kind.


It may sound absolutely whacky, but NASA's John H Glenn Research Centre is going to light a "large scale fire" in space as part of an experiment that seeks to understand how fire spreads in a micro-gravity environment.


The experiment has been named the Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire) and will take place on board the next Orbital/ATK Cygnus cargo mission. It will begin after the unmanned resupply vehicle will undock the International Space Station (ISS) after dropping key science supplies.


The fire will take place in a box full of "cotton-fiberglass composite” and the data generated from the experiment will be beamed back to Earth before Cygnus starts re-entry.


Instruments on the returning Cygnus will measure flame growth, oxygen use and more.


Results could determine microgravity flammability limits for several spacecraft materials, help to validate NASA’s material selection criteria, and help scientists understand how microgravity and limited oxygen affect flame size.


(With IANS inputs)