A PROGRAM TO STUDY THE FLAMMABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF WIRING MATERIALS IN SPACECRAFT ENVIRONMENTS THAT WILL COMPLEMENT THE EXISTING JAXA PROJECT ENTITLED FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL STANDARD OF FIRE SAFETY IN SPACE IS BEING CARRIED OUT AT U.C. BERKELEY UNDER NASA SPONSORSHIP FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE AN ASSESSMENT OF WIRE MATERIALS FLAMMABILITY IN THE CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN SPACE EXPLORATION ATMOSPHERES (SEA). THE WIRES UNDER STUDY ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF THE TESTS BEING CONDUCTED AT HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY BY THE JAPANESE COUNTERPART RESEARCHERS AND THE TESTS PLANNED TO BE CONDUCTED IN THE ISS/KIBO UNIT. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROGRAM IS A CONTINUATION OF THE CURRENT PROJECT. THE RESEARCH LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE CHANGES IN WIRE FLAMMABILITY SPECIFICALLY THE FLAME SPREAD LOI-LOC IN THE ENVIRONMENT EXPECTED IN SPACE-BASED FACILITIES IN PARTICULAR THOSE AT SPACE EXPLORATION ATMOSPHERES (SEA). THESE ENVIRONMENTS INCLUDE REDUCED GRAVITY LOW VELOCITY FLOWS REDUCED PRESSURES AND ELEVATED OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS. IN ADDITION THE EFFECT OF AN EXTERNAL RADIANT FLUX ON THE FLAME SPREAD LOI-LOC IS ALSO STUDIED. THE EXTERNAL RADIANT FLUX SIMULATES AN ADJACENT HEAT SOURCE (FIRE HEATED ELECTRICAL COMPONENT ETC.) WHICH MAY AFFECT THE FLAMMABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS. THE NEAR-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AND CONDUCT TESTS IN A GROUND-BASED FLARE/UCB APPARATUS THAT REFLECTS THE ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE EXPECTED IN SPACE-BASED FACILITIES. THE EXPERIMENTS SUPPORT THE ISS/KIBO EXPERIMENTS TO BE CONDUCTED UNDER THE FLARE/JAXA PROJECT. ALTHOUGH PROGRESS IS BEING MADE TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE NEW CABIN ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCES MATERIAL FLAMMABILITY PARTICULARLY THAT OF WIRES FURTHER RESEARCH REMAINS TO BE CONDUCTED. AN ASPECT OF THE PROBLEM THAT IS PARTICULARLY RELEVANT HERE AND THAT NEEDS CONSIDERABLE STUDY IS THE EFFECT OF MELTING AND DRIPPING OF THE INSULATION ON THE WIRE FLAMMABILITY. IF THE INSULATION MATERIAL MELTS DURING THE WIRE BURNING MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN FLAMMABILITY MAY OCCUR BETWEEN NORMAL AND MICRO-GRAVITY BECAUSE THE MOLTEN MATERIAL WILL NOT DRIP IN MICROGRAVITY THE PROJECT EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY CONSISTS OF OBTAINING FLAME SPREAD FLAMMABILITY BOUNDARIES (LOI-LOC) OF WIRES AND WIRE INSULATION MATERIALS (PRIMARILY THOSE BEING STUDIED AT HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY AND PLANNED FOR THE TESTS IN THE ISS/KIBO) IN SEA ENVIRONMENTS AND UNDER EXTERNAL RADIATION. THE WIRES UNDER STUDY ARE PRIMARILY LABORATORY TYPE WIRES CONSISTING OF A POLYMERIC INSULATION PRIMARILY PE AND A CONDUCTING CORE. TO CONDUCT THE EXPERIMENTS AN EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND A BENCH-SCALE FLAMMABILITY TEST WAS DEVELOPED AND TESTS ARE BEING CONDUCTED IN NORMAL GRAVITY AT EARTH ATMOSPHERES. A LIMITED NUMBER OF TESTS WERE CONDUCTED IN AN AIRCRAFT FOLLOWING A PARABOLIC PATH AND IN A DROP TOWER. THE TESTING METHODOLOGY IS SUPPORTED WITH THEORETICAL MODELING OF THE IGNITION AND FLAME SPREAD PROCESS. THIS RESEARCH PRIMARILY SUPPORTS THE FLARE/JAXA PROGRAM BUT ALSO COULD LEAD TO BETTER DETERMINATION AND RANKING OF THE FIRE HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS OF POTENTIAL WIRE MATERIALS TO BE USED IN SPACECRAFT FOR LONG TERM EXPLORATION MISSIONS.