25 Sep
2019
25 Sep
'19
8:29 a.m.
From: Al Kossow
> This is documented in NASA's official history
of Project Mercury, for
> which it was invented.
could you post a pointer to the document where this
appears?
If the reference is to:
Lloyd S. Swenson, James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander; "This New
Ocean: A History of Project Mercury"; SP-4201; NASA; Washington; 1966
"WD-40" does not appear in the index. There's another less likely book
("Project Mercury: A Chronology", or something like that), but I can't be
bothered to drag it out and look, because I'm pretty sure that's incorrect.
My understanding is that WD-40 was invented to protect the stainless steel
skin of the Atlas ICBM (which was often left un-painted), built by Convair. I
do recall seeing this in one of my Atlas books, which is alas currently not
shelved, and I don't have time to find it. FWIW, Wikipedia agrees.
The rest of that post (about how it's a waxy material in a solvent) is I
think correct; it certainly agrees with its original intended usage (above).
Noel