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Spinoff story
Elemental Scanning Devices Authenticate Works of Art
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
To better detect aluminum compounds, Marshall Space Flight Center partnered with KeyMaster Inc. (later acquired by Madison, Wisconsin-based Bruker AXS Inc.) to develop a vacuum pump system that could be attached to X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanners. The resulting technology greatly expanded XRF scanner capabilities, and hundreds of museums now use them to authenticate artifacts and works of art.