---
title: "Chinese Astronaut Lights Match in Space"
description: "Two astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station have lit a candle with a match during a live broadcast."
date: "2023-09-30"
modified: "2023-09-30"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-astronaut-lights-match-space"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "fire extinguisher"
  - "the digest"
  - "Tiangong"
---

# Chinese Astronaut Lights Match in Space

![Two astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station have lit a candle with a match during a live broadcast.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/chinese-astronaut-lights-match-space.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: CCTV\</em\>*

## Matchbox Tiangong

Two astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station have done the seemingly impossible: light a candle with a match during a live broadcast.

While striking a match isn't exactly a high-risk maneuver here on Earth, the situation's a lot more harrowing on board a space station. As [*Space.com* points out](<https://www.space.com/china-tiangong-space-station-light-match-fire-microgravity>), any forms of open flame are strictly prohibited on board the International Space Station.

The demonstration is a fun reminder of how fire behaves in microgravity environments. Instead of hot air rising, giving a flame its distinctive shape, the flame diffuses in all directions, causing the match to be engulfed in a small sphere of fire.

And given the risks involved, China's space agency is clearly confident in its ability to suppress a fire in the case of an emergency.

https://twitter.com/ChinaScience/status/1704783136473985316

## Space Hotbox

While there are strict rules on board the ISS, NASA has been studying the behavior of fire in space for a [number of years now](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-fires-space-burn>) to get a better grasp of how to make the environment safer for humans.

As part of the space agency's Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments (SAFFIRE) experiments, NASA has been [lighting small flames](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-fire-break-out-nasa-spacecraft>) on board uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft, simulating what it would be like if future space travelers were faced with disaster.

The risk isn't entirely theoretical. In 1997, the six crew members on board Russia's Mir space station were shocked to [discover a fire](<https://www.nasa.gov/history/25-years-ago-fire-aboard-space-station-mir/>) that ignited in an oxygen-generating system. The flame burned bright for several minutes, filling the station with smoke.

Fortunately, crew members were able to extinguish the flames, preventing any permanent damage to the structure.

Since then, we've learned a lot about what could trigger a fire. The ISS, for instance, has a redesigned oxygen-generating system that includes [several redundancies](<https://www.nasa.gov/history/25-years-ago-fire-aboard-space-station-mir/>) and a cutting-edge [fire detection system](<https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/No_fire_in_the_sky_preventing_an_astronaut_s_worst_nightmare>).

Given the taikonauts' most recent livestream, China's space agency likely thought ahead and implemented similar systems on board its Tiangong space station.

That can only be a good thing. Besides, a match could be a great way to mask the [nasty odors](<https://futurism.com/space-tourists-iss-bathroom>) known to accumulate in such a confined space.

**More on fire in space:** *[Watch a Fire Break Out on Board a NASA Spacecraft](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-fire-break-out-nasa-spacecraft>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)