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Article: This festival is real gone, man
- Article from:
- Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
- Article date:
- June 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1926, a serendipitous laboratory experiment produced the first
synthetic rubber, and a new company was born. Calling itself Thiokol
-- from Greek words for sulphur and glue -- the company made a
polymer rubber that was used as a sealant for fuel tanks, gun
turrets and other metallic seams.
Then, as America was poised to enter the space age, scientists at
Cal Tech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered that the same
polymer made a darn good solid propellant fuel binder.
That discovery led Thiokol to take a giant leap. Although it had
operations in Maryland and in Alabama, in 1956 the company bought
acreage in northern Utah, some seven miles from where the Golden
Spike was driven to join ...