Combustion Integrated Rack
Facility Description
The Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), located in the U.S. Laboratory Module (Destiny), allows investigators to perform combustion research to understand the fundamentals of the combustion process, fire safety, and methods for the suppression of fires in space. The CIR’s main feature is a 100-liter combustion chamber that provides the necessary safety features for the various combustion investigations and is the only rack on the ISSInternational Space Station dedicated to combustion experimentation. Developed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center, the CIR was launched to the ISS in November 2008 on a Space Shuttle mission (STS-126).
The CIR provides up to 90% of the required hardware to perform most future microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. combustion experiments onboard the ISS. The remaining 10% of the hardware (fuel, igniters, etc.) is provided by the specific investigation teams. A significant amount of diagnostic hardware is designed for many of the planned experiments. The CIR accommodates experiments that address critical needs in the areas of spacecraft fire safety (i.e., fire prevention, detection, and suppression), fundamental understanding of the combustion process, flame spread, soot production, material selection, power generation, and incineration of solid wastes.
Availability:The general availability status of the facility. Please contact the facility manager
ISS Environment:The facility location (internal or external to the ISS.) Internal
Owner:The entity that owns the facility. NASA
Operator/Implementation Partner:The entity or ISS National Lab Implementation Partner that operates the facility.
ZIN Technologies
Developer(s):The entity, or entities, that developed the facility.
NASA Glenn Research Center
Facility Manager:The name of the facility manager and their organization.
Nancy Hall
NASA Glenn Research Center
Manager Email:The facility manager's email address.
nancy.r.hall@nasa.gov
Parent Facility:Any facility that is necessary to operate the facility described on this webpage. i.e., a parent facility is one level higher in the operational hierarachy.
Sponsoring Space Agency:The government space agency that sponsors investigations that use the facility. NASA
Equipment Category:"The facility's ISS National Lab equipment designation type. Designations include:
1. ISS National Lab Commercial Service Provider (CSP) Facility
2. Support Hardware
3. Capability Capability
Additional Information:Additional resources to learn more about the facility.
CIR on NASA’s SSRE
CIR information from NASA’s Glenn Research Center