STS-94, July 4 1997, MET:3/03:13 (approximate). TEMPUS, a furnace flying aboard MSL-1, has had some excellent runs. TEMPUS is being used to study undercooling, a fascinating state when material is cooled below its freezing point, but still remains a liquid. The photo at left shows a sample metal in the TEMPUS container. It is being positioned electromagnetically - using magnetic fields which are generated when electricity is sent through special coils of the apparatus. We will be featuring TEMPUS later on in the mission - watch for more movies!

MOVIE! An mpeg movie (5 second clip) shows the sample being held by TEMPUS' electromagnetic fields. (962 MB)

STS-94, July 4 1997, MET:3/02:34 (approximate). The Droplet Combustion Experiment (DCE) makes more burns. DCE is our top story today - read how understanding basic fuel combustion can improve our life here on Earth. Included are interviews with DCE scientists and a description of how the experiment works! The photo at left is a burn of DCE just after the vapor cloud surrounding the fuel droplet has ignited. The two bright spots surrounding the cloud are the igniter arms being retracted.

MOVIE! An mpeg movie of this DCE burn: Ignition of fuel and burning droplets (164KB).

STS-94, July 4 1997, MET:02/19:20 (approximate). The Fiber-Supported Droplet Combustion (FSDC) Experiment has had a number of successful burns already. This experiment, performed in the Middeck Glovebox, allows us to study the burning of fuels such as n-heptane, n-decane, methanol, ethanol, methanol/water mixtures, and heptane/hexadecane mixtures in droplets as large as 6 mm (nearly 1/4 inch). In the photo at left, you see the fuel droplet (looking bright pink because of reflected light) before ignition, as it hangs suspended from the supporting fiber.

MOVIE! An mpeg movie of this burn: Burn of a 5mm droplet of n-heptane, in a 30% O₂/He environment at 1 atmosphere pressure (459KB). In this movie you'll see the fuel droplet being positioned on the fiber, the ignition of the fuel by a glowing coil, and the droplet shrinking as the fuel is consumed.

STS-94, July 4 1997, MET:2/07:30 (approximate). This picture is more of the IFFD apparatus, today using a hard sphere suspended with ultrasound (see yesterday's highlights below for more).

MOVIE! An mpeg movie of this run of IFFD shows rapid rotation of the sphere (390 KB) 

STS-94, July 4 1997, MET:2/05:40 (approximate). This picture shows a run of the Droplet Combustion Experiment (DCE). DCE will use various fuels - in drops ranging from 1 mm (0.04 inches) to 5 mm (0.2 inches) - and mixtures of oxydizers and inert gasses to learn more about the physics of combustion in the simplest burning configuration, a sphere.

MOVIE! An mpeg movie of this run of DCE: Ignition of fuel and burning droplets (1.33MB)

STS-94, July 4 1997, MET:2/05:30 (approximate). Scientists stayed busy during the second full day of science activities of MSL-1. At left is a Laminar Soot Processes (LSP) experiment run. The objectives for this experiment are to observe truly nonbuoyant flames, which are only possible in microgravity; to determine laminar smoke points (the conditions under which flames begin to produce excess soot that is not consumed by the flame); to test simple concepts of modeling soot in nonbuoyant flames; and to obtain information that will help researchers to evaluate soot formation processes in flames using non-premixed gaseous fuels. The picture at left is typical of what you see during a run of LSP.

MOVIES! Two mpeg movies of LSP runs

1. lighting the fuel (961KB) this movie shows the ignition of the fuel (propane) used in this run.
2. experiment run ends - successful conclusion (1.2MB) here you see the flame extinguish, and the science team at Marshall Space Flight Center, who have been monitoring the experiment, celebrate the successful end of this first set of LSP runs.