teflon re long term human missions hausner qucis queensu ca alejo hausner writes rek siss robert kaye writes just a few contributions from the space program to regular society teflon so your eggs don t stick in the pan sorry to split hairs but i just read in the making of the atomic bomb that teflon was developed during world war a sealant was needed for the tubing in which uranium hexafluoride passed as it was gradually enriched by difussion uf is very corrosive and some very inert yet flexible material was needed for the seals i think you re both right teflon was actually discovered by accident before wwii from what i ve heard they had some chemical i assume it was tetrafluoroethylene in a tank and but the valve got gummed up cutting it open revealed that it had polymerized the material was useful for seals but it had a major problem for say the linings of vessels it wouldn t stick to metal what the space program did was to find a way to get it to stick thus we had no stick frypans on the market in the late s dan tilque dant techbook com
