Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE)

Image on left is CFE Vane Gap -1 vessel at 45° vane angle in Earth gravity, 1-g. Image on right is CFE Vane Gap -1 vessel at 45° vane angle in microgravity, µg. A large “finger” of fluid has filled the gap between the vane and chamber inside the surface closest to the camera view, at the critical angle of 45° (within ±1.5° of predicted value). The key science information from this test point, for example, is the experimental verification of present analytic and numerical methods to predict such nearly discontinuous static and dynamic phenomena.