Velcro and fire-proof pajamas?

Michael McCulloch wrote in message . ..
On 11 Jan 2004 23:03:53 -0800, (Thad Floryan) wrote:

In other words, the Apollo program didn't even exist when Velcro was
already a household word.

If you are correct then Michael Bakich's comments were an even bigger
gaffe. I'm sorry, but his was just a ridiculous response to the
question of whether a mission to Mars would bring benefits
commensurate with the cost.

If he actually said what you wrote, I'm simply flabbergasted.

VELCRO was invented in the late 1940s by George de Mestral and he applied
for the first patent in Switzerland in 1951. The story goes he was out
walking with his dog and wondered why burrs (aka cockleburrs) stuck to his
clothing and to the dog; his analysis of the phenomenon and experimentation
gave us what is known as "hook and loop tapes" under the trademark VELCRO.

The original USA patent number is 2,717,437 circa 1955.

Three sites with interesting background about VELCRO a

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa091297.htm

http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/37.html

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story015.htm

and, of course, there's http://www.velcro.com/ where one can read a one
paragraph history at URL:

http://www.velcro.com/about/history.html

In other words, VELCRO is not space-alien technology from the alleged
crashed Roswell flying saucer, and its invention had nothing to do with
NASA though NASA is a big user of the various VELCRO products -- there
are even VELCRO hook straps inside space helmets so astronauts can scratch
their noses and chins!

FWIW, I buy the industrial (stronger) VELCRO in 25-foot rolls since it works
so well fastening scope controls and other stuff to mounts and also works even
when wet (with dew).