- Author
-
Linford, R. M. F.
- Title
- Integration of a Fire Detector Into a Spacecraft.
- Coporate
- McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, MO
- Journal
-
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets,
Vol. 9,
No. 9,
697-701,
September 1972
- Sponsor
- National Aeronautics and Space Admin., Washington, DC
- Contract
- NAS9-6555
- Keywords
-
spacecraft
|
fire detectors
|
fire protection
|
safety engineering
|
aerospace engineering
|
weightlessness
|
ultraviolet radiation
- Identifiers
- detection systems
- Abstract
- A detector sensitive to only the ultraviolet radiation emitted by flames has been selected as the basic element of the NASA Skylab fire detection system. It is sensitive to approximately l0(-12)W of radiation and will detect flame flames at distances in excess of 3m. The performance of the detector was verified by experiments in an aircraft flying zero-gravity parabolas to simulate the characteristics of a fire which the detector must sense. Extensive investigation and exacting design was necessary to exclude all possible sources of false alarms.