ZIN Technologies, in partnership with the NASA Glenn Research Center developed the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) experiment now on its way to the International Space Station. The Northrop Grumman Antares vehicle carrying the Cygnus spacecraft launched at 12:40 p.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
Fire can be a catastrophic hazard for manned spacecraft. NASA mitigates the risk of fire with the implementation of NASA-STD-6001, which establishes program requirements for evaluation, testing, and selection of materials to preclude unsafe conditions related to flammability, odor, offgassing, and fluid compatibility.
NASA-STD-6001 impalements a 1-g flame propagation test for proposed space flight materials which some researchers believe is not conservative in low-g. In 2009, NASA selected 5 investigations that will be conducted using SoPHIE that will help further our understanding of solid surface combustion and material flammability. Each investigation addresses different elements of material flammability. Congratulations to our SoPHIE Team! ZIN Technologies was acquired by Voyager Space in March 2023.
