BEAVERTON, Ore. — A material that Columbia Sportswear has used to keep people warm and dry for years is now heading into outer space.
OMNI-Tech — the signature shiny, foil-like material patented by Columbia Sportswear — is recognizable in many of their jackets. The brand was inspired by the NASA space blankets astronauts use to keep warm in space.
“What Columbia did back in 2010 was take that idea of reflecting heat and actually adopted it for use in apparel,” said Haskell Beckham, the vice president of Innovation at Columbia Sportswear.
Now, Columbia Sportswear is taking their understanding of winter wear to outer space, utilizing that same OMNI-Tech to protect parts of a lunar lander from space temperatures that range from -250 Fahrenheit to 250 Fahrenheit.
“We realized that 'Oh my goodness, this material actually can work and is durable for the harsh conditions in outer space.' The material that you see on the lunar lander is exactly the same material that we use in our jackets,” said Beckham. “In this case, it reflects the heat coming from the sun to help protect the lunar lander from those harsh temperatures.”
The lunar lander launched from Florida on Thursday: SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, dispatching Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander on its way to the moon, 230,000 miles away.
If all goes well, a touchdown attempt would occur Feb. 22, after a day in lunar orbit. Only five countries — the U.S., Russia, China, India and Japan — have scored a lunar landing, and no private business has yet done so.
Columbia Sportswear estimated it will take five to seven days to reach the moon.
“It will be the United States' first return to the moon since the Apollo mission in 1972 — over 50 years (ago),” said Beckham.
Columbia Sportswear has no doubts the rocket will make it to the moon in one piece.
“There are a lot of really innovative unique materials and constructions and components that go into the lunar lander. Space is hard; it's going to be difficult to do,” Beckham said.
Columbia Sportswear will host a landing party for the lunar landing on the moon if the mission is successful.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
