Shuttle Fire Tests Are Radiant

Flame spreading is a phenomenon familiar to everyone who has witnessed an accidental fire. Yet, because of the complexity of the physical and chemical processes that are involved, the theoretical understanding of fires and flame spreading is a relatively new science. Flames spread along solid materials in a process where heat from the flames vaporizes the fuel just ahead of the moving flame. The vaporized fuel mixes with oxygen from the air and reacts chemically with it, producing the flame. On Earth, the spread rate of the flame is directly affected by the rate at which the fuel and oxygen are mixed with the help of buoyant convection.