Fuel to fire in space

2011/05/31 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Kimika

In the image you can see to fire a drop of heptane in microgravity state of 3 millimeters in diameter.

The bright central structure represents the trajectory of the drop, becoming smaller as it burns. Kedarra (green) is generated and, through imaging techniques, NASA researchers measure the concentration of soot at each point in the image. An experiment being carried out at the International Space Station studies the combustion of the drops of these liquid fuels.

Image courtesy of: ANDÉN