NASA's gold coating technology shines on Oscar trophies at the 90th Academy Awards

Who would have thought that NASA and Oscars would have had something in common! Well, they do now and how. [caption id=“attachment_4315549” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  90th Oscars 2018.[/caption] According to NASA , the gold used to coat the Oscar trophies this year is similar to the one used by NASA in their telescopes. And coincidentally, like the awards themselves, it’s also used to track distant galaxies and stars. The reason for choosing this method of plating gold was because it had been observed that Oscar trophies overtime were known to lose its coating, therefore, the Academy approached Epner Technology which also coats the mirrors used by NASA telescopes. The Epner Technology claims that its gold never wears off and has been used in the US space agency’s telescopses. The report says that it uses an electroplating process called LaserGold which makes the gold harder and more reflective. Gold is said to play an important role in reflecting and blocking the absorption of the radiant heat. The same gold is also used in the mirror of James Webb Space Telescope and the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

While @TheAcademy honors the brightest stars in Hollywood, our satellites & telescopes glimpse the brightest stars in the galaxy. Both have something in common though. Our telescopes & the #Oscars trophies are both plated with the same gold! Learn more: https://t.co/cM4cNBG6Sr pic.twitter.com/r5lyGHUFPx

— NASA (@NASA) March 5, 2018

Initially, the Oscar trophies were gold plated using the vapour deposit method where the metal is heated in a vacuum until it becomes a gas, which then condenses in a thin layer across a surface. But eventually, it was known to lose its reflectivity. “We guaranteed that our gold coating will never come off,” said Epner while offering a lifetime guarantee to replate if that were to happen.