The mission desk
Describe a crew cabin. We'll rank real tests by similarity and show how much each test reports.
Set up a scenario
Kofi · A close match is evidence, not a safety prediction.
Describe a cabin, and the atlas ranks every NASA test by how closely it matches. It shows the evidence and how sure it is — it does not predict whether a fire will start or spread.
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Start from a mission
NASA-studied and previously recommended exploration-atmosphere configuration
NASA describes it as a compromise that balances the prebreathe time before a spacewalk, hypoxia and flammability risk.
“An “exploration atmosphere” of 56.5 kPa (8.2 psia), 34% O2, 66% N2 has been recommended by NASA for future Moon and Mars missions as a compromise that balances subsequent pre-EVA prebreathe duration, hypoxia, and flammability risk, assuming a 29.6 kPa (4.3 psi) spacesuit.” Exploration atmosphere pilot study, abstract
One NASA exploration-atmosphere scenario, not a universal Moon-base specification. ICAM 2022 · NTRS 2022.
Drag a marker. Each tick underneath is one NASA test record at its recorded value, and the dashed window is the tolerance the Evidence Ladder uses.
No record within ±1.5 points. Your setting is outside the tested ground.
3 records within ±10 kPa · Saffire
2 records at lunar gravity, simulated on a spinning rocket (LUCI)
30 records of PMMA
40 records within ±50 % of your airflow · BASS and BASS-II, Saffire
All conditions together0 records — each condition may be tested somewhere, but never all at once
BASS and BASS-IISaffireTolerance window Each tick is one NASA test record at its recorded value.
Current evidence does not directly cover this combination of material, oxygen, pressure, airflow, gravity.
This is a statement about evidence, not a prediction: MicroFire does not estimate whether a fire would start or spread.
Largest uncertainty: gravity. The closest record ran in orbit, not lunar gravity.
SaffireLUCIBASS and BASS-IIMartian-gravity drop testsFM² (planned)SoFIEFLEXACME
PMMA, 34 % O₂, 56.5 kPa, 20 cm/s airflow, lunar gravity. The closest record, Saffire VI sample VI-3, differs in gravity, oxygen.
Finding relevance ranks scientific observations and context. Experiment relevance ranks physical conditions. Neither is a safety rating. How findings are ranked
Matches: oxygen
Why #1?
Ahead of #2 because the two tie on every ranking key, so only the finding ID orders them.
Why this is relevant
NASA · Reported observation
“Both blowoff and quenching limits were obtained at several oxygen concentrations.”
Limitation
Publication-level evidence: no explicit test-row link is curated for this finding. Numeric condition coverage is unknown. Condition match not established: material, gravity, oxygen, pressure, airflow.
Matches: airflow
Why #2?
#1 is ahead because the two tie on every ranking key, so only the finding ID orders them.
Why this is relevant
NASA · Authors' interpretation
“Quenching was observed when the flow became sufficiently weak that the flame could no longer provide adequate heat flux to compensate for the heat losses (conduction into the rod and radiation).”
Limitation
Publication-level evidence: no explicit test-row link is curated for this finding. Numeric condition coverage is unknown. Condition match not established: material, gravity, oxygen, pressure, airflow.
Matches: reduced gravity
Why #3?
#2 is ahead because it has higher relevance (43 vs 33 / 100).
Why this is relevant
NASA · Reported observation
“These are the first-ever, extended-duration (greater than 25 seconds) combustion tests performed in simulated Lunar gravity.”
Limitation
Publication-level evidence: no explicit test-row link is curated for this finding. Numeric condition coverage is unknown. Condition match not established: material, gravity, oxygen, pressure, airflow.
Fixed evidence-type ordering; weights vary ±25% across 200 seeded runs. This measures sensitivity to MicroFire’s ranking choices, not scientific confidence. Showing 3 of 39 topic/material matches.
Evidence Ladder
Climbing up means stronger evidence. Tests from 3 experiment families are compared, each kept in its own physical regime.
The top rung is missing
The experiment that would add this rungPMMA, 34 % O₂, 56.5 kPa, 20 cm/s airflow, lunar gravity. The closest record, Saffire VI sample VI-3, differs in gravity, oxygen.
“Previous testing at microgravity and Lunar gravity indicated that some materials burned to lower oxygen concentrations in low gravity than in normal gravity, although the low g extinction limit criteria are not the same as 1g due to time constraints in drop testing.”
About reduced gravity (Martian-gravity drop tests, drop tower). Reported observation. Microgravity vs Martian gravity, abstract
“If proven for more materials, this may indicate the need to include a factor of safety on 1g flammability limits.”
About reduced gravity (Martian-gravity drop tests, drop tower). Authors' interpretation. Microgravity vs Martian gravity, abstract
“These are the first-ever, extended-duration (greater than 25 seconds) combustion tests performed in simulated Lunar gravity.”
About reduced gravity (LUCI, spinning New Shepard sounding rocket). Reported observation. Lunar Combustion Investigation, abstract
“Finally, the experiment is a steppingstone to the ultimate goal of performing burn tests on the Lunar surface in the Flammability of Materials on the Moon (FM2) experiment which is planned to launch in late 2026.”
About reduced gravity (LUCI, spinning New Shepard sounding rocket). Reported observation. Lunar Combustion Investigation, abstract
“A principle objective was to determine the limiting oxygen index (LOI), the oxygen percentage below which combustion would not occur.”
FLEX burned methanol and heptane droplets (2 to 5 mm), a different physical regime: it can explain mechanisms such as oxygen limits, not how a solid material behaves. FLEX droplet results, PDF p. 8
“Observed LOI values for these fuels appear to be slightly lower than initially expected.”
FLEX burned methanol and heptane droplets (2 to 5 mm), a different physical regime: it can explain mechanisms such as oxygen limits, not how a solid material behaves. FLEX droplet results, PDF p. 8
“The droplets had initial diameters between 2 and 5 mm, and they were burned in oxidizing atmospheres at ambient temperature and various pressures between 0.70 and 3.05 atm, over ranges of dilution of oxygen with nitrogen, with carbon dioxide, and with mixtures thereof.”
FLEX burned methanol and heptane droplets (2 to 5 mm), a different physical regime: it can explain mechanisms such as oxygen limits, not how a solid material behaves. FLEX droplet results, PDF p. 8
Tolerances: oxygen ±1.5 points, pressure ±10 kPa, airflow ±50 %. A missing value never counts as a match. How the ladder works
Tolerance check. Across 1,000 variations of these tolerances (oxygen ±1–2 points, pressure ±5–15 kPa, airflow ±30–70 %), the direct rung stays empty every time. Saffire VI sample VI-3 stays the closest record in 100 %.
Dashed cyan lines mark your oxygen and airflow. Oxygen above 21.5 % lies off the top of the chart: no test went there.
Mission Relevance, Evidence Confidence and Ranking Robustness are three separate project heuristics, not NASA ratings. Robustness reranks every test 1,000 times with each weight varied ×0.75–1.25, the pressure scale 5–15 kPa and the similar-material credit 0.25–0.75. See the formula
“Both blowoff and quenching limits were obtained at several oxygen concentrations.”
The reported boundaries make oxygen and airflow relevant to the research question. A rod result does not establish limits for a panel, fabric or different habitat.
PMMA, 34 % O₂, 56.5 kPa, 20 cm/s airflow, lunar gravity. The closest record, Saffire VI sample VI-3, differs in gravity, oxygen.
A deterministic research question, not a NASA-endorsed experiment plan.
Source trail: NASA documents and open data