Viton® As Rubber Or Plastic?

Hi guys! Arthur O’Meara here visiting NASA and learning a lot about space shuttles and something popped into my head I thought would be interesting to share with you. 

The space shuttle Challenger disaster was horrible, it was awful, I was in college when it happened. I remember it and it was caused by the failure of some O-rings– synthetic rubber O-rings called Viton®.  

Ask anyone they’ll say “Oh Viton®! Sure, it’s a synthetic rubber. We use it all the time in pumps. We use it in valves and machines; it’s pretty common, it’s ubiquitous.” Now this video is about Viton®, not about space shuttles.

I want to make that clear if you read the notes to chapter 39 it defines the word “plastic” and if you read the notes to chapter 40 it defines the word “rubber” and it defines the words “synthetic rubber.”

Viton® is not a rubber. Despite what everyone tells you, it is a plastic. So, what’s the moral of the story? The moral of the story is read your chapter notes, read your section notes, and please read your explanatory notes. 

And then hit Like and Subscribe to this video and let me know what you think.

Oh, one more thing: visit Houston–this place is awesome. 

Take care.