Several experiments to be tested on next Orbital ATK launch

It’s been nearly two years since an Antares rocket launch from NASA’S Wallops Island Flight Facility exploded mid-flight.

The October 2014 failed flight on the destroyed the MARS launch pad, requiring millions of dollars in repairs. Next Thursday, NASA officials are preparing to launch from Wallops again.

The Cygnus spacecraft on board the Orbital ATK mission is carrying over 5,000 pounds to resupply the International Space Station (‘ISS”), but several experiments are also a part of the mission.

One of the experiments is the Spacecraft Fire Experiment II (“Saffire II”) which is studying how flames grow in space.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” says David Urban. “It’s a habitual vehicle, but there’s nobody in it and no future use of the vehicle, so you can’t do any harm.”

Urban, principal investigator of Saffire II, was one of four researchers at a teleconference Wednesday. The researchers briefed media on the upcoming launch’s impact on their individual projects.

According to Urban, fire is a significant risk in spacecraft. He says the problem is not limited to fire itself but how it interacts with its surroundings.

Once the spacecraft makes it to the ISS, the astronauts there will unload all the supplies from Cygnus and replace them with trash from the ISS. With Saffire and trash on board, researchers will activate the experiment remotely from Virginia.

“That’s part of the other gift of having the space craft,” he says. “You can have the fire cause enough heat and pressure in the vehicle and make sure we can predict how the vehicle will respond to fire and therefore how people should respond.

According to Urban, future saffire experiments will look into fire detection and post fire cleanup.

As for the launch itself, officials at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility have announced at 9:13 p.m. launch time set for Thursday, October 13.