Early Fire Detection Technology in Manned Spacecraft

Abstract During the manned space missions, the crucial concerns of the spacecraft and the crew's safety require long-term reliable, real-time, and accurate smoke monitoring of the cabin atmosphere to provide onset warning of fire. However, the absence of the thermal buoyancy effects in the microgravity environment makes the smoke particle movement more random and thereby brings more difficulties to the smoke detection. The prior spacecraft smoke detectors include the UV-sensing fire detectors, the Brunswick Defense particle-ionization smoke detector, and the Allied Signal light-scattering smoke detector. The need of more reliable and accurate fire detection technology is strengthened by a number of reported incidents of false alarms and no alarms in space missions. In order to increase the reliability of detection and reduce the response time, a novel early fire detection system for space missions, integrating the laser scattering smoke detection technology with the near-infrared laser photoacoustic (PA) ...