When some of us in the media were first introduced to Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander named Odysseus, we were a bit puzzled. Why was the Columbia Sportswear logo prominently displayed on the gold-foiled exterior?
Could it be (tongue in cheek) that it was so cold at the spacecraft’s lunar south pole destination … an estimated minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit … that Odysseus would need an insulated jacket designed by that famous purveyor of cold weather apparel?
In an exclusive interview, Dr. Haskell Beckham, Columbia’s VP of innovation, explained the mildly surprising answer. To propel its thrusters, Odysseus is fitted with cylinders of cryogenic methane and oxygen. They need to be kept very cold during the journey to the Moon. That shouldn’t be a problem given the expected very cold temperature of space, should it? Well, not quite. For example, when it’s exposed to direct sunlight the International Space Station experiences an outside surface temperature of roughly 250 degrees Fahrenheit (hot enough to boil water here on Earth).
Knowing that, Intuitive Machines approached a number of manufacturers looking for a solution. To make a long story short, Beckham’s team of engineers at Columbia took up the challenge and offered their ultra-warm Omni-Heat™ Infinity (OHI) material to insulate the tanks of cryogenic methane and cryogenic oxygen. “We tested the OHI fabric to make sure that it was durable at the low and high temperatures that it will experience,” explained Beckham. “We also tested it to make sure that no condensable gases were emitted under vacuum.”
The shiny and nearly featherweight material apparently did its job very well. In a press conference six days after Odysseus’ historic soft landing near the lunar south pole, Intuitive Machines Chief Technology Officer Tim Crain was effusive about OHI: “The material has worked so well that we plan on using additional Columbia materials on IM-2. So this has gone from being an intriguing partnership for sponsorship to a relationship that is really valuable for us, and we are going to take their material technology capability with us on future missions and expand on that partnership.
The same insulating material that successfully protected Odysseus is also available to those of us here on Earth. (https://www.columbia.com/). Columbia’s NASA-inspired heat-reflective technology relies on a matrix of foil dots to reflect heat and trap warmth in jackets, hats, gloves and other outdoor clothing.
