Over half a century ago, scientists were seeking solutions to new problems arising from the performance of metals in outer space. Existing coatings could not fill the requirements for long-term, fail-safe protection. Conventional protective coatings or lubricants actually "boiled" away in the vacuum of space. NASA's requirement for new, permanent, functional coatings led them to General Magnaplate's proprietary engineered coatings that could withstand the rigors of outer space.

Dr. Charles P. Covino, founder of General Magnaplate, had invented a wide variety of coatings for both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. As a result, every space vehicle since NASA began has included thousands of individual parts coated by Magnaplate. These include cameras, telemetry equipment, drills, fuel valves, landing struts, protective shrouds, seat tracks, frames, doors and windows, latches and hinges. In addition - space suits and EVA components, toilets, the moon vehicle itself, and the drill and soil sampler used to bring moon rocks back to earth. For General Magnaplate's historical time line in PDF format, click here.

Today these coatings are used not only in space but for such "down-to-earth" applications as reduction of abrasion and erosion. Also -- the elimination of galvanic corrosion in molds used to form plastic parts; solder-spatter-rejection on double wall copper tubing machines; the huge boring machines used to dig the England/France "Chunnel;" protecting the metal surfaces of gas lasers from corrosive gases; and heat sinks on mainframe computers, to name but a few of thousands of applications.