iss050e014941 (12/8/2016) --- NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough during Capillary Flow Experiment-2 (CFE-2) with the Interior Corner Flow 1 hardware. The Capillary Flow Experiments demonstrate how capillary forces work in space, how differently shaped containers change the wicking behavior of a wetting fluid, and how such can be used to passively separate liquids and gases. Understanding how microgravity amplifies these behaviors could improve the reliability of such key processes as water purification fuel storage and supply, and general liquid transport aboard spacecraft.
Photographer Shane Kimbrough
Date December 8, 2016