Have you ever thought that NASA has something in common with the Oscar trophies? I guess not but, don’t worry, nobody has. However, it seems that the same gold coating tech used by NASA to coat their telescopes to see deep in the Universe is also used to coat the Oscar trophies.
A US-based gold plating company is used by both NASA and the US movies academy
The Epner Technology has been used by NASA since the 70s and enhanced the coating methods during the 90s. Epner Technology guarantees their electroplating method is so good that the gold they coat lasts for the eternity.
Just recently, in 2016, the Epner Technology improvements attracted the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which partnered with them for coating the Oscar trophies.
Since the 70s, an US-based trophies manufacturer was the Academy’s partner and created the Oscars by using an alloy plated with gold.
The problem was that the Oscars trophies were glittering and, eventually, the gold coating was flaking.
“We guaranteed that our gold coating will never come off,” said the Epner Technology’s president, David Epner.
As a guarantee, Epner Technology dealt with the US Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to replace the gold coating at no additional cost if any of the Oscar trophies’ gold coating will show any minor sign of flaking.
The gold is an important asset for NASA deep-space observation
NASA uses the gold coating because gold is the best infrared-reflecting material. This very characteristic of gold helps NASA’s telescope to scrutiny the skies for objects and galaxies at billions of light years far from Earth.
The traditional method of gold plating is the vapor deposits one in which the gold is transformed into a gas which is then condensed on a surface. The biggest problem with this method is that, in time, the gold is losing its shininess and will flake.
The Epner Technology, on the other hand, uses a method of gold plating that involves the usage of lasers in a process they’ve suggestively called LaserGold which won’t permit gold to lose its shiness and to wear off.
