June 1999

Vol. 14, No. 6     What's this?

NASA, Spit, Soap, and Olive Oil

from the June, 1999 issue of Undercurrent  

Did you know NASA spent millions of dollars trying to develop a substance to prevent space suit face plates from steaming up but ended up using Lemon Fresh Joy? Spit also prevents condensation because saliva creates a surface film on the glass that prevents water from forming into drops.

These facts were among several presented by Dr. Robert E. Baier at the Great Lakes Chapter of the Underwater Hyperbaric Medical Society.

Baier also noted a practice formerly employed by sponge divers when they made breath-hold dives to harvest sponges. The divers would hold a mouthful of olive oil and release it underwater, forming an oil slick on the surface above. The oil calmed the surface and prevented surface irregularities from scattering the sun’s rays, which ultimately allowed more sunlight to get through to the bottom.