Space & Astronomy

New NASA mission will start multiple fires on the surface of the Moon

By T.K. Randall
April 28, 2026 ·  1 comment

Image: Earthset
Credit: (PD) NASA The possibility of a fire is actually a very real risk during manned space missions and something that crews need to be specially trained to handle.

The interior of the International Space Station, for example, is a cramped, sealed and pressurized environment with nowhere for the smoke or heat to escape to - making it a potentially catastrophic place for an uncontrolled fire.

With plans to build a base on the Moon, NASA is keen to learn as much as possible about the differences in how fire starts and spreads on the lunar surface compared to in space (or on Earth).

To this end, scientists have come up with a new experiment entitled 'Flammability Of Materials On The Moon' (FM2) that will essentially involve starting several fires in small, self-contained test environments to see how they behave on the lunar surface.The experiment essentially consists of four sealed compartments with a different fuel in each one.

Once the fires are ignited in each compartment, a series of instruments will carefully observe and monitor the blazes to see how the flames grow and spread over an extended period of time.

The results will prove invaluable in designing future fire management and suppression systems for use in a future lunar base where an out-of-control blaze could spread quickly and behave unpredictably.

"The tests will provide benchmark data and are part of the larger effort to understand how lunar gravity will affect material flammability," the researchers wrote.

Source: Daily Galaxy | Comments (1)

Tags: Moon, Fire