Jun 22 2007
If all unfolds as scheduled, when the Space Shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth on Thursday just before 2 p.m. EDT, its wheels will touch down on technology from Rohm and Haas.
Runways used by NASA's space shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida have just been re-striped with paint containing Fastrack(TM) HD-21A, an environmentally advanced, waterborne coatings technology made by Rohm and Haas.
NASA's Kennedy Space Center is the preferred end-of-mission landing site for the Shuttle orbiters, according to information on the NASA website because it saves the agency an estimated three-quarters of a million U.S. dollars and about five days between missions.
The Rohm and Haas family of Fastrack resins are up to the demanding tasks on this special runway, as well as on commercial runways around the world. A study of airport runway paints conducted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a few years ago demonstrated that Rohm and Haas's Fastrack HD-21A technology performed the best when tested against competitive products (see below).
Fastrack resins are preferred for paint formulations used on airport runways because they are tough, dry quickly and have exceptional adhesion properties - and they are far better for the environment than traditional, solventborne technology. Why? Fastrack-based paints do not emit the level of potentially unhealthy and harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that solventborne coatings emit.
The Space Shuttle runway marking was done by Sightline Airport Marking Consultants (AMC) based in Culpeper, Virginia. Sightline President Donna Speidel explains that airport markings have different specifications and more demanding needs than roadway markings. "Centerlines of runways are each three feet wide and 120 feet long, and they really take a pounding," she says. "The stresses on the film are much greater than on a six-inch-wide highway line. Because of the extreme abuse to which airfield striping is subjected, re-striping, especially of the centerline, may occur as often as bi-weekly. The film on runway markings must be more flexible, not brittle, and the reflective glass beads must be the highest quality."
Shruti Singhal, North American market manager for Rohm and Haas's Industrial Finishes and Traffic Paints explains that Fastrack HD-21A, which was used at Kennedy Space Center, has patented cross-linking technology for exceptional adhesion to glass beads, which makes it the ideal resin destined for runway and other airport markings.