Myth: Teflon was invented for the space program
01/01/07 00:00 Filed in: Science
Was Teflon was invented for the
space program?
Myth
Teflon, the non stick coating used on cooking equipment, was original invented for the space program for use on the re-entry shield of space vehicles.
Reality
Another total old wives tale about the American space program. Teflon is in fact the brand name of a polymer compound discovered by Roy J. Plunkett (1910-1994) of DuPont in 1938 and introduced as a commercial product in 1946.
It is a thermoplastic fluoropolymer.
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