The answer is yes. But because there is no gravity and therefore no 'up', warm air can't rise and create a convection current, thereby creating a spherical flame unlike the conical we know here on Earth.
The more important takeaway from this is that we'd never know this if we hadn't tested it in a microgravity environment. And we'd never have access to that type of environment if it weren't for the dedicated men and women, engineers and scientists--and policy makers working at NASA. Today is a special day in our nation's history, for it was on July 29, 1958 that President Eisenhower signed into law the National Aeronatics and Space Act, creating America's agency designed to slip the surly bonds of Earth--and beyond.
I've always been fascinated with space. As a young child, I protested for my parents to add NASA TV to our lineup, to no avail. And while my parents ignored my pleas to send me to Space Camp, they did acquiesce to a summer vacation to the Johnson and Kennedy Space centers. I can remember running my hands along the life sized replica of the sleek shuttle Discovery as I munched on my freeze dried pizza and ice cream sandwich, stopping at moments to finger my four dollar NASA wings from the gift store. I was convinced that if we hung around long enough, we'd see an unscheduled shuttle landing. And surely I wasn't the only child that tested the holds of Earth by jumping as high as I could in my parents' bed to enjoy a nanosecond of free fall?
I've witnessed several defining moments in our quest for space exploration. I watched our launch--and momentary fail--of Hubble, the first launch of our initial Mars Rover, numerous successful shuttle launches and one horrific shuttle re-entry that claimed the lives of astronauts on Columbia. As I've gotten older, my love affair of all things space hasn't waned, but the realization that NASA is an agency run by extraordinary humans, bnot immune from human error is also apparent. Graduate school gave me the perfect opportunity to explore NASA from a policy driven perspective, reaffirming my respect for the amazing work they do, but the discovery of flaws in organizational culture, and hierarchal rule did put a ding in the once impenetrable image I had of our perfect agency dedicated to space. Accidents such as Skylab, Challenger, and Columbis highlighted these discrepancies. (here's a look at NASA's response:)
So 54 years later, where are we now? Well, from the first moment Alan Shepard took his 108 minute orbit into space, we've landed on the moon, launched an international space station, and conducted hundreds of experiments that have enhanced life as we've known it here on Earth. And even as we've suspended space flight to engineer a new, savvier, revolutionary fleet of space exploration vehicles, we are only days away from the landing of one of the most innovative and scientifically advanced space instruments on the surface of Mars--the Curiosity rover. Read all about it here!:
Don't miss out on the awesome video by NASA, Seven Minutes of Terror:
So, happy birthday, NASA. Here's to 54 more years of Mars, the moon,galaxies, and everything else between and beyond!!
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