Chinese Astronauts Lighted A Fire Inside A Space Station In A Livestream Video

Fire is not just a source of heat and light; it's a symbol of civilization's progress.

Humanity first harnessed fire and realized its uses over a million years ago. Fire allowed them to cook food, stay warm, and protect themselves from predators during the night. The discovery of fire marked a significant turning point in humanity's evolution.

Fire is so profound, that it also played a crucial role in religious ceremonies and in various cultures.

As humans continued to evolve, they learned to control fire. This enabled the development of advanced tools and technologies.

Because fire has been a cornerstone of humanity, it's just a matter of time before fire is brought into space.

The International Space Station (ISS) has been trying to avoid this due to safety, but not the Chinese.

Two astronauts from China have become the first people in space to have lit fire while orbiting Earth.

In a challenge to generally accepted safety protocols, Chinese astronauts livestreamed themselves conducting an experiment with open flames aboard the Tiangong space station.

Inside the permanently-crewed space station in low Earth orbit about 400 kilometers above the surface, astronauts Gui Haichao and Zhu Yangzhu work in an environment that is only a third of the size of the ISS.

At one of the space stations' laboratory modules, the two astronauts livestreamed how they lighted up a match, and then a candle.

During the fourth installment of "Tiangong classroom" on the space station, the astronauts showed viewers that flames appear to be nearly spherical when lit in the microgravity environment.

On Earth, flames typically appear in a teardrop shape thanks to a buoyancy-driven convection, according to a report on Space.com, with the hot air rising and cold air dropping near the flame.

However, in the low Earth orbit environment in which the astronauts are operating, that convection current is weaker than on Earth and causes the flame to disperse in all directions, giving it the spherical look seen in the video.

The appearance of the flame amazed all those who were watching.

It even stunned the West, because the ISS has strict rules regarding flammable materials and having open flames anywhere within the space station.

Inside the ISS, its strict fire rules limit any kind of flames and sparks into specially-designed racks, which put them under control.

The ISS has strict rules in response to a fire that occurred on the Russian space station Mir in 1997.

According to a NASA summary of the 1997 incident, a fire that started in an oxygen-generating system aboard Mir lasted several minutes, cutting astronauts off from one of the space station's escape vehicles and filling the modules with smoke.

Mir's cramped quarters made the situation even more difficult, with six astronauts attempting to navigate the tight confines and work together to extinguish the blaze.

Fortunately, the astronauts eventually succeeded in putting the fire out while the space station's life support system cleared the station of any lingering toxic smoke over the next several hours.

While the Mir crew members faced no lasting harm from the fire, the incident changed how space agencies approached fire safety aboard the ISS.

But if human civilization is meant to go out of Earth and colonize planets, fire will remain a crucial element.

For example, fire can forever be a source of energy, like how it is on Earth, where it can be used to generate electricity. Fire can also help sustain life support system through controlled combustion. And just like on Earth, fire can also be used for cooking, manufacturing, waste management, and more.

If humanity will ever bring fire to space, the Chinese has given humanity some lessons to learn.