Lenses: what each PSI investigation is about, for fire safety
This page is for finding, in one table, which of the 24 PSI combustion investigations speak to fire prevention, detection or suppression, using only their own PSI records and NASA's challenge statement as evidence.
Each investigation is tagged by safety leg (prevention, detection, suppression) and by phenomenon (ignition, spread, extinction, smoke). Every tag has a word-for-word quote from the investigation's PSI record or from NASA's challenge text, checked by code (tools/build_lenses.py). No quote, no tag.
Lens matrix
24 investigations, 93 checked quotes. Hover or focus a dot to read the quote and its source. An empty cell means no quote was found in these fields, not that the investigation has nothing to say.
Show: all 24 · prevention (13) · detection (5) · suppression (4)
Showing the 4 investigations with at least one suppression quote. The other columns are still shown for these rows.
| Investigation | prevention | detection | suppression | ignition | spread | extinction | smoke | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACME CLD Flame PSI-21 | ●"through measurement of flame shape, lift-off heights, temperatures and extinction limits." (PSI record PSI-21, field "objective") | · | ●"an understanding of those factors that affect flame extinction in diffusion flames is critical in the suppression of fires" (PSI record PSI-21, field "researchImpacts") | · | · | ●"through measurement of flame shape, lift-off heights, temperatures and extinction limits." (PSI record PSI-21, field "objective") | · | indirect"Other combustion investigations within the PSI database (but not explicitly referenced above) are still relevant to fire safety, just not as strongly or directly." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) |
| BASS-II PSI-25 | ●"Study the ignition, flame growth, flame spread, and extinction limits for solid fuels burning in low-velocity forced flows in microgravity." (PSI record PSI-25, field "objective") "BASS-II helps engineers select the safest materials and improve firefighting methods on future space missions." (PSI record PSI-25, field "researchImpacts") "Flammability studies focus on solid materials such as fabrics and plastics, as studied in the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS and BASS-II) and Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) investigations." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) | ●"BASS-II results contribute to the combustion computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth." (PSI record PSI-25, field "objective") | ●"BASS-II results contribute to the combustion computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth." (PSI record PSI-25, field "objective") "Burning and Suppression of Solids" (PSI record PSI-25, field "title") "BASS-II helps engineers select the safest materials and improve firefighting methods on future space missions." (PSI record PSI-25, field "researchImpacts") | ●"Study the ignition, flame growth, flame spread, and extinction limits for solid fuels burning in low-velocity forced flows in microgravity." (PSI record PSI-25, field "objective") | ●"Study the ignition, flame growth, flame spread, and extinction limits for solid fuels burning in low-velocity forced flows in microgravity." (PSI record PSI-25, field "objective") | ●"Study the ignition, flame growth, flame spread, and extinction limits for solid fuels burning in low-velocity forced flows in microgravity." (PSI record PSI-25, field "objective") | · | direct"Flammability studies focus on solid materials such as fabrics and plastics, as studied in the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS and BASS-II) and Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) investigations." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) |
| BASS PSI-26 | ●"Current NASA spacecraft materials selection is based on a standard test method (NASA–STD–6001 Test 1) that segregates material based on 1-g behavior without consideration of low gravity effects." (PSI record PSI-26, field "researchImpacts") "Flammability studies focus on solid materials such as fabrics and plastics, as studied in the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS and BASS-II) and Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) investigations." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) | · | ●"Assess the effectiveness of an inert, gaseous extinguishing agent (similar to that used on ISS) in putting out flames over different materials, geometries, preheating, and flow." (PSI record PSI-26, field "objective") "Burning and Suppression of Solids" (PSI record PSI-26, field "title") "Using nitrogen as a flame suppressant in microgravity provides a direct link to current and planned extinguishment techniques." (PSI record PSI-26, field "researchImpacts") | · | ●"data was collected on flame size, shape, color, spread rate, and potential flame quenching." (PSI record PSI-26, field "approach") | ●"data was collected on flame size, shape, color, spread rate, and potential flame quenching." (PSI record PSI-26, field "approach") | · | direct"Flammability studies focus on solid materials such as fabrics and plastics, as studied in the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS and BASS-II) and Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) investigations." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) |
| FLEX PSI-69 | ●"The FLEX (Flame Extinguishment Experiment) investigation aims to map the flammability limits of liquid fuels in microgravity environments" (PSI record PSI-69, field "objective") | · | ●"measure the effectiveness of various gaseous fire suppressants such as CO2, He, and SF6" (PSI record PSI-69, field "objective") "Suppression was studied in the Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX) through dilution of the chamber atmosphere with carbon dioxide and helium, both of which suppress fire." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) | ●"Continue step 7 to an ambient oxygen mole fraction where the droplet does not ignite." (PSI record PSI-69, field "approach") | · | ●"Key flight experiment goals include obtaining high-resolution measurements of droplet burning rates, flame extinction behavior, heat radiation, soot levels, and temperature profiles" (PSI record PSI-69, field "objective") | · | direct"Suppression was studied in the Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX) through dilution of the chamber atmosphere with carbon dioxide and helium, both of which suppress fire." (NASA Space Apps 2026 challenge statement) |
Strength. PYRION convention. direct: the investigation is named in the challenge's fire-safety text (Background, or the 'Other investigations in PSI' bullets). fundamental: not named there, and its own PSI record describes the work as fundamental. indirect: the rest; the challenge says such investigations are relevant 'just not as strongly or directly'. Exception: DAFT / DAFT-2 is named only because a SAME smoke-detection instrument 'was instead used to detect dust' there, so it is indirect.
How a tag is allowed. PYRION convention: a quote can carry a tag only if it contains one of these word stems. Extinction limits count as prevention, not automatically as suppression. Word for word; only runs of whitespace (line breaks in the PSI JSON) are read as one space.
Rows tagged here: prevention 13, detection 5, suppression 4; ignition 4, spread 6, extinction 13, smoke 5.
Context (not a tag)
- SAFFIRE-I, detection context: “Instruments on an unmanned cargo vessel measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, heat, pressure and flame growth” (PSI record PSI-98, field "researchImpacts")
- SAFFIRE-II, detection context: “Instruments on an unmanned cargo vessel measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, heat, pressure and flame growth” (PSI record PSI-99, field "researchImpacts")
- SAFFIRE-III, detection context: “Instruments on an unmanned cargo vessel measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, heat, pressure and flame growth” (PSI record PSI-100, field "researchImpacts")
Oxygen ceiling and materials
The highest ambient oxygen tested in PSI per fuel phase, against the Moon Base and the spacesuit, and the materials index are on the Materials and oxygen page.
Evidence timeline
Each dot is an (oxygen, pressure) test point of a PSI investigation, shown from the year PSI gives for the end of that investigation. 9 of 24 investigations have both values in a test; 4 have no date in PSI and appear in the last frame. The Moon Base band (26.5 % at 56.5 kPa, 34 % at 56.5 kPa, 34 % at 70.3 kPa, 26.5 % at 70.3 kPa) is the same band as on the Mission Planner. 6 PSI test points (ACME BRE) lie inside it in oxygen and pressure, tested in microgravity. None of them is in lunar (partial) gravity, so the band is drawn empty. The challenge says: “there is currently no partial-gravity combustion data available in PSI”. FM2's tests are planned, not in PSI (NTRS 20260001966, PDF p. 10: “Test 1: 8.2 psia (+/- 0.3 psi), 37% O2 , balance nitrogen) Test 2: 8.2 psia (+/- 0.3 psi), 33% O2 , balance nitrogen) Test 3: 8.2 psia (+/- 0.3 psi), 29% O2 , balance nitrogen) Test 4: 8.2 psia (+/- 0.3 psi), 25% O2 , balance nitrogen)”).
PYRION convention: placed at the year of investigationEndDate; if empty, missionStart; if both are empty: 'date not stated in PSI', drawn only in the final frame. PYRION convention: the two closing corners (26.5 % O2 at 8.2 psia and 34 % O2 at 10.2 psia) are not stated by any source; the rectangle is a way to close an open band with sourced limits, not a NASA design envelope. The 26.5 to 30 % part of the band is below the challenge text (30 % or more) but inside the NESC atmospheres.
- ACME/Flame Design (PSI-10): start 01-14-1999, end 04-30-2025
- ACME BRE (PSI-20): start 01-01-2010, end 02-08-2025
- ACME CLD Flame (PSI-21): start 10-01-2006, end 05-31-2022
- ACME E-FIELD Flames (PSI-22): start 11-18-2016, end 11-17-2020
- ACME s-Flame (PSI-23): start 02-05-2015, end 11-24-2019
- BASS-II (PSI-25): start 01-01-2010, end 12-31-2022
- BASS (PSI-26): start 10-01-2009, end 06-30-2013
- CFI (PSI-39): start 10-01-2020, end 10-20-2021
- DAFT / DAFT-2 (PSI-47): start 03-01-2003, end 06-01-2009
- ground study (PSI-60): start 06-05-2019, end 08-29-2022
- ground study (PSI-62): start 05-01-2019, end 04-30-2021
- FLEX-2 (PSI-68): start 08-12-2016, end 09-30-2019
- FLEX (PSI-69): start 08-01-2007, end 07-31-2016
- SAFFIRE-I (PSI-98): start 03-02-2001, end 02-28-2008 (identical to SAME's in PSI; may be a PSI record error)
- SAFFIRE-II (PSI-99): start 09-30-2016, end 04-01-2017
- SAFFIRE-III (PSI-100): start 04-18-2017, end not stated in PSI
- SAME-R (PSI-101): start 07-01-2010, end 09-30-2010
- SAME (PSI-102): start 03-02-2001, end 02-28-2008 (identical to SAFFIRE-I's in PSI; may be a PSI record error)
- SLICE (PSI-106): start not stated in PSI, end not stated in PSI
- SPICE (PSI-107): start not stated in PSI, end not stated in PSI
- ground study (PSI-115): start 01-30-2017, end 12-31-2019
- ground study (PSI-117): start 02-15-2017, end 02-14-2022
- ground study (PSI-142): start 08-01-2016, end 07-31-2021
- ACME CFI-G (PSI-159): start not stated in PSI, end not stated in PSI