Thanks to the American space project, those who will never reach the moon received a host of new materials, which permeated industry and took humanity a big step forward
roo
by Dafna Levy
Pictured: A roof made of strong materials discovered during the space program
Bicycle
Various compounds of carbon fibers are used in the space industry to produce parts of spacecraft, which require strength and durability, yet it is important that they be very light. Coal fibers have infiltrated everyday life in various products, starting with wheelchairs for the disabled - these are stable, strong and extremely durable chairs that do not require the use of much force, so that the person sitting in them can easily push themselves (in a joint study by NASA and the University of Virginia in the United States, a A wheelchair that weighs only 13 kg, and is stronger than wheelchairs made of steel). They also make golf clubs, tennis rackets, helmets and bicycle frames from the fibers that can be lifted even with the little finger.
shoe
The Avia company, which manufactures gym shoes, uses NASA technology known as a "Compression Chamber" for the soles of the shoes it produces. The company wanted to market a shoe with a durable sole that would cushion the foot comfortably and over time. Instead of the central layer in the sole, which was composed of materials Foamed elastics, worn as a result of the constant pressure of the shoe body, were inserted into the same compression cells A piece of plastic molded in the form of a honeycomb. The special structure of the honeycomb, with the addition of compressed air, prevents the wear of such compression chambers. The first shoe made with this technology was a .48 The legs of the NBA actor Clyde Drexler, the sales promoter in an Avia advertising campaign.
מחשב
Titanium is stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum, which is why it is so suitable for the aviation industry. First it was used by NASA's spaceships. Then by Boeing and the other companies that build airplanes. Today it is used for a variety of trivial commercial applications starting with extremely light eyeglass frames, watches and mountain bikes. For Apple's new laptop computer, for example "PowerBook" G3 It has a titanium case, so it is extremely light, stylish and spacious in design The fingers of the users will not stand out much and will not spoil the look, and also so that the device does not dazzle the eyes of those looking at it on a sunny day.
Glasses
The lenses of the glasses produced by the Santiger company filter out 99% of the sun's radiation, which is dangerous for our eyes. The structure of the lens mimics the natural filters present in the eyes of eagles and hawks and protects them from harmful rays, and even improves their ability to see at night in fog or smog. The lenses, which have the trade name PST, were developed in collaboration with NASA's Langley Research Laboratories in a project that began as the development of protection against the strong sun in space for astronauts while they are outside the spacecraft for maintenance work. Special models of the glasses protect against radiation from fluorescent lights. At NASA's Aims Research Center Scratch-resistant lenses have also been developed, the coating of which lasts ten times longer than the coating of Normal plastic lenses. They were developed as a byproduct of research to find solutions to protect plastic surfaces in equipment used in spacecraft.
roof
Back in the days of the Apollo spacecraft, NASA was looking for ways to improve the fabrics used to make the space suits. The result: glass fibers woven with Teflon that have unique properties: they are durable, non-flammable, thin and light, and also repel moisture. Soon the fabrics began to be used in the production of protective curtains against flaming, tents, roofs, ceilings and covers for sports arenas (the Olympic Stadium in Rome, for example, partially covered with such sheets) and for airports (such as the one in Denver, Colorado).Fiberglass, which is used today for a wide variety of applications - and even for the construction of church steeples in the United States - and Teflon, known from pots and pans, were not invented by NASA, but their combination has proven popular. very.
^The Golden Bridge
Although the Golden Bridge in San Francisco was not built with materials developed by NASA, it is coated with such a rust-preventive material. So is the Statue of Liberty in New York, the giant Buddha statue in the Po Lin Temple in Hong Kong, and even the Panama Canal when it underwent renovations. NASA developed the rust-preventive coating Already in the 70s, in order to reduce the maintenance expenses of its launch base, the Kennedy Space Center located Near the beach in Florida. The material, a mixture of silicates rich in zinc (whose trade name is IC 531), is not only resistant to moisture and salt; It dries after 30 minutes and prevents damage caused to the launch pads of the space shuttles from the extreme changes in temperatures. According to the company that produces it, Shane Associates, the material is also unique because it is not toxic, flammable or volatile, and does not leave dangerous residues in the environment.
tap
Some of the metal alloys can change shape in response to changes in heat and cold, and "remember" these changes - this phenomenon is known as SME or the shape memory effect. NASA began researching these materials in the 80s together with Memari Technologies from Connecticut, and since then it has been producing various parts for space vehicles, wires, pipes and plates. The first commercial use was with the launch of the product line called "MemariSafe", including showers and safety faucets , which prevent burns, in these faucets the heat of the water stream passing through the pipeline is limited to a predetermined temperature - the pipeline "remembers" the desired heat and does not allow it to pass of warmer water. Another company, Mercon Iver, uses materials for the production of smart glasses, called "flexon"; these frames are made of titanium alloy and they "remember" the shape of the nose and the face of the wearer at room temperature.
blanket
The idea was born already in the 19th century, but its application was born in the American space program. It's called "metallization" - coating paper, fabric and synthetic materials with metal vapors, creating extremely flexible and light metallic leaves. NASA began using a material for coating balloon-like satellites - thin plastic sheets coated with aluminum vapors. These were launched from Earth folded and inflated in space to the size of ten-story buildings. There they were used as relay stations for radio signals.
These sheets were also used to protect astronauts from solar radiation and heat, they also protect against the rain and do not rot. Very quickly the technology also began to be used for commercial applications on Earth. For example, in light and heat-insulated clothing for athletes and hikers, in blankets for use by rescue teams in emergency situations and at ski resorts (they are very light and retain body heat), for coating walls, to protect windows, buildings and vehicles, for food packaging and coating rafts to make it easier to locate them using radar. MPI Company of Massachusetts, which received the franchise for commercial production, also manufactures a nylon kite coated with golden metallic vapor used by mountain climbers, hikers and boaters for emergency signaling.
Helmet
Durability is one of the properties that NASA wants to give to the complex materials it invents. Kevlar has this in abundance. It breaks with difficulty and even when it does break, its parts do not disperse but remain together thanks to the fibers from which it is made. It is a material that is resistant to high heat, abrasion, and is extremely light On Earth it is used to make protective vests, parts of racing cars (especially in areas sensitive to collision damage), canoe boats are built from it. and kayaks and helmets for motorcyclists, and integrate its fibers into the weaving of protective suits for motorcyclists. Most of the Kevlar products are produced by the "Do
font".
Watch
The American space scientists who were looking for a material that would be indifferent to chemical substances, and that could protect machines and tool parts against wear, developed sheets of a diamond-like material. After all, diamonds do not conduct heat, they insulate from electricity and are not attacked by most chemicals, nor do they corrode easily. However, they are extremely expensive. NASA's technology, developed at the Lewis Research Center, made it possible to coat surfaces with a thin layer of diamond-like but much cheaper carbon, its name DLC (Carbon Diamond-Like). Commercial companies today manufacture a variety of accessories from it: glasses, watches, highly sensitive membranes for speakers, needles for use in operating rooms and more.
Oven
The American space agency NASA has developed ceramic materials that are resistant to extremely high temperatures for the coating of space shuttles, so that they are not damaged when entering back to Earth after traveling in space. Today, these materials are used to build furnaces for metal processing in various industries, and also as stoves in kitchen ovens Because these materials do not corrode easily, parts of aircraft engines and generators are also made from them, and Blades for simple kitchen knives.
