T. Cressman of the 4320 Branch led the Engineering Team through the 1st three flights, and was also responsible for Structural Systems. In addition to being Project Manager, Kirk Logsdon of SED was responsible for the flight software. A brief description of the project follows, but a much more detailed description of the experiment, as well as a QuickTime movie of a launch, can be obtained by pressing here. Experiments in microgravity allow researchers to eliminate the influence of gravity for comparison to those in 1g and those predicted by computer models. The above diagram illustrates the concept of the experiment.
Thermocouples also measure temperatures.
The flame is extinguished by turning off the fan. Four systems use eight video cameras to observe the flame and measure temperature and flow fields. After recovery, the video tapes are used for visual analysis and computerized image processing. Black and white CCD cameras observe the particles thus illuminated to visualize the fluid motion. The SAL experiment was flown aboard a sounding rocket carrier for several reasons.