After 39 unsuccessful attempts, the team arrived at the formula that became WD-40.
And somehow, “WD-40” turned out to be a much catchier name than “the formula that finally worked after trying 39 other versions.”
I think they made the right choice!!
The Cold War Connection
To understand why anyone needed a water-displacing rust preventative in the first place, you have to look at the technology of the early Cold War.
The 1950s were a period of enormous competition in aerospace and missile development.
The United States was developing increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles, and those machines had to survive demanding environments.
Corrosion wasn’t just an annoying cosmetic problem.
On critical aerospace hardware, protecting metal surfaces from moisture and rust could be extremely important.
That’s where the Rocket Chemical Company came in.
The company’s scientists were working on a formula designed to displace water and protect metal from corrosion.
And their first major application wasn’t a squeaky garage door.
It was the Atlas missile.
WD-40’s First Job Was Protecting an Atlas Missile
This is probably the most surprising part of the entire story.
The first industrial user of WD-40 was Convair, an aerospace contractor.
The company used WD-40 to help protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.
Think about that for a second.
The same general product that people later sprayed on bicycle chains, garden tools, hinges, and stubborn bolts had an early job protecting the exterior of a missile.
That’s one heck of a résumé!!
The Atlas program was an important part of America’s early intercontinental ballistic missile development, and later Atlas rockets also played a major role in America’s space program.
So while calling WD-40 a “Cold War miracle” is a colorful description rather than an official historical designation, the connection to Cold War-era aerospace technology is very real.
Why Was Water Such a Problem?
