Combustion Integrated Rack

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.