Did you know that you have some NASA-approved technology in your kitchen, probably tucked away in a drawer, waiting for you to struggle with its ineffectual cardboard teeth when you try and tear off a piece to lay on a grill and cook bacon with? Despite being a scientifically advanced organisation making things that are supposed to survive in the vacuum of space - so, like, you'd expect a load of actual space-age technology - NASA really do have a thing for foil. Maybe not the actual aluminum tin foil we use everyday, but also not a million miles away from that. For one thing, theirs is usually gold instead of silver. By which we mean it is literally made of gold. Actual gold. Made into foil. For spaceships. Which might seem like a rather big expense, especially considering the billions spent on other materials for space flights and the like (shuttles routinely end up costing something in the region of several hundred billion dollars when they're complete), but its use is entirely justified. As well as making all their shuttles look totally baller, gold has loads of useful properties: high heat resistance is good for shielding upon launch and in space, it reflects a lot of light for added protection, stops higher-energy particles, perfectly conducts for electronics work, plus it wont tarnish or oxidize. So not only did you learn about how much NASA uses foil, but also how awesome gold foil is. Double fact!
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
