Burning fuel in space

This is a close-up image photographed during a run of the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) experiment on the International Space Station. The experiment, examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The experiment is planned for guiding strategies for extinguishing fires in microgravity. BASS results contribute to the combustion computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth.

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst ran part of this experiment in ESA's microgravity glovebox during his six-month Blue Dot mission.