Back to the catalog

Spinoff story

A New Look for the Shopping Mall

A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.

About this technology

Overview

STRUCTO-FAB, a product of Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, is a lightweight but extremely durable tent-like material made of Fiberglas coated with Teflon. It transmits daylight with a reduced need for artificial lighting. It is an outgrowth of a material formulated by NASA in 1967 as a new space suit fabric. Owens-Corning and DuPont provided the original material, which was the basis for Structo-Fab, a permanent architectural fabric used for shopping malls, sports stadiums, etc.