Picture for prior post

The Apollo Space Program and the non-stick frying pan

The landing of a man on the moon is celebrated because it:

• Is a nerdgasm of mankind's greatest achievement; the culmination of the Enlightenment
• Was the pivotal battle in which the Cold War was won
• Was an unsustainable economic drain that along with the Vietnam war led to the collapse of the gold standard and ultimately the economic meltdown of 2008
• was JFK's legacy
• was fictitious
• was really really cool and anyone who thinks it was fake identifies themselves as a bit mad
• invented the non-stick frying pan

Of these points, I've engaged in heated debates on all bar the last. 

The received wisdom is that the non-stick frying pan was an inadvertent byproduct of the Apollo program. Therefore any misgivings about the overall project are allayed by the fact that millions of people have an easier job cleaning their frying pan thanks to Neil Armstrong and countless unsung heroes.

Except... whilst reading Richard Rhodes most excellent account of the development of the nuclear bomb I came across the claim that Teflon was invented by the Manhattan Project.

Say it ain't so Joe! 

This little nugget would be the start of an investigation worthy of a jaded alcoholic detective just shy of retirement - That Goes Right To The Top! 

Here is the truth as best can be established (i.e. wikipedia.org)

1. Teflon, aka PTFE, was discovered  by accident and patented in 1938
2. Yes, it was very valuable, and used in huge quantities by the Manhattan. But they weren't big into PR at that time
3. 1954 Collette Gregoire finally persuades her husband to put some of that slippy stuff he uses for fishing onto a frying pan
4. Tefal frying pan brand is introduced to the market, but it is many years before it achieves global dominance

So the Apollo program had zero influence on the non-stick frying pan. 

Fact. You can check it out on the internet if you don't believe me.

In the mean time, for reasons that are largely inexplicable, I've been replacing my Tefal frying pans with seasoned cast iron pans.(but will try not to contribute the blogosphere on this fascinating topic).

However, even without non-stick frying pans, Apollo was awesome.