NASA is planning to start “the biggest man-made fire ever in space” aboard an unmanned Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vehicle. In an experiment known as Saffire scientists want to find out how fire spreads in near-zero gravity in a bid to keep astronauts safe. International Business Times reports: The study is being developed by engineers at Nasa’s Glenn Research Centre, Ohio, and will be lit after the cargo vehicle delivers supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). The idea is to monitor the way that flames spread in microgravity so that future disasters can be avoided. The blaze will see materials burned inside a self-contained 3x5ft module with video images and data sent back to controllers in Virginia. Scientists hope to receive measurements of flame growth and how much oxygen is used. The difficulty before now was conducting an experiment without endangering astronauts. Fire is a largely unknown commodity in space with researchers acknowledging that fire can be unpredictable because of the lack of gravity. Heat rises on Earth but with no gravity, flames can disperse in any direction using less oxygen. Results of the experiment will be used to help Nasa develop safer materials and technologies to help keep [...]