NuSil s high-purity silicones are taking off
Silicones can be found on satellites, within their solar panels and near antennas and sensors.
CARPINTERIA, Calif. It is no coincidence that a period of great growth occurred in the silicone industry in concert with the golden age of space exploration, beginning 70 years ago with the Mercury Program and carrying through the 1950s and 1960s with the Gemini and Apollo programs.
But the seals and coatings used in these early missions were not made from high-purity silicone, and they tended to leak when they broke down on re-entry emitting an oily residue, a low molecular weight silicone species that did not crosslink into the matrix causing unsafe condensations on windshields and contaminating other areas of the space vehicle.