{"id":95822,"date":"2016-09-22T11:25:44","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T15:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=95822"},"modified":"2016-09-22T06:27:10","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T10:27:10","slug":"theres-gold-in-them-thar-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2016\/09\/theres-gold-in-them-thar-spacecraft\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s Gold in Them Thar Spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"
September 22, 2016<\/div>
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By WallStreetDaily.com<\/u><\/a> \"0916_SPEC_Space\"<\/p>\n

Gold is well-known for protecting investors and their portfolios. But it can do so much more. Like protect astronauts and their spacecraft.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

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When we do finally colonize the cosmos, that maiden voyage will be full of gold.<\/p>\n

But it won\u2019t serve as a medium of exchange for trade with Martians or denizens of Proxima Centauri b<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019ll be part of the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

My colleague Jim Rickards \u2014 Agora Financial\u2019s go-to guy for tactics on how to use gold in your portfolio \u2014 characterizes the yellow metal as a hard asset immune to threats like Vladimir Putin\u2019s 6,000-strong cyber-brigade that seeks to destroy digital assets.<\/p>

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Protection against global threats in an increasingly uncertain world is just another reason to own gold. That\u2019s on top of the traditional insurance it provides against our ever-eroding dollar, the specter of hyperinflation, and the continuing incompetence of U.S. fiscal and monetary authorities.<\/p>\n

Gold has also held its value over a period of centuries \u2013 proving more durable than other metals, paper currencies, and other financial assets.<\/p>\n

For many investors \u2014 and for valid, defensible reasons \u2014 it\u2019s the ultimate security blanket.<\/p>\n

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Gold\u2019s use beyond portfolios and adornments is often overlooked. But for a precious metal, it\u2019s spectacularly useful when it comes to industrial applications such as spaceflight.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

NASA budgets aren\u2019t what they once were (or even close to what we thought<\/i> they were). But it\u2019s not extravagance or conspicuous consumption that leads the space agency to protect its assets with gold.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s stone-cold practicality. As Robert C. Langley wrote in 1971:<\/p>\n

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Thin coatings of gold, applied by a variety of techniques, are used extensively for protection against the effects of radiant energy in space exploration. Further applications in space technology appear to be likely, based on the ease with which the intrinsic properties of gold can be utilized to meet a variety of thermal control problems, while the techniques developed may well be of value in the control of radiant energy in industrial applications on Earth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Gold is endowed with specific properties \u2014 including reflectance, durability, conductivity and workability \u2014 that make it extremely useful as material for insulation for spacecraft, the instruments that power and support their operations and performance, and gear for the astronauts who travel in them.<\/p>\n

It reflects as much infrared radiation as well as any potential replacement metal.<\/p>\n

It reflects as much or more ultraviolet radiation as any potential replacement metal.<\/p>\n

It also absorbs substantial amounts of visible light.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t rust or tarnish like copper or silver. It\u2019s softer and more malleable than aluminum.<\/p>\n

NASA notes that the most obvious use is as part of multilayer insulation (MLI), a \u201chigh-performance insulator that uses multiple radiation-heat transfer barriers to retard the flow of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such \u201cblankets\u201d are familiar to us because of their use on external segments of the Apollo-era lunar modules.<\/p>\n

But gold foil, gold leaf, and gold plating form important layers of protection for critical internal systems that are also susceptible to solar radiation.<\/p>\n

Modern satellites use gold-coated Mylar sheets to protect against solar heat.<\/p>\n

Gold is also used to coat the visors of astronaut helmets in order to filter out those harmful rays from the sun.<\/p>\n

Increasingly complex microelectronic components for telecommunications, optics, and civilian aviation as well as spaceflight also benefit from gold\u2019s unique combination of physical properties.<\/p>\n

Advances by privately held Epner Technology Inc. in the late 1990s \u2014 spurred by NASA\u2019s requirement for \u201cthe ultimate in electroplated reflectivity needed for the Mars Global Surveyor\u2019s Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA)\u201d \u2014 made gold a key element in health care instruments as well.<\/p>\n

MOLA\u2019s gold-plated telescope mirror will be protected from space elements for decades. And Epner\u2019s proprietary Laser Gold technology is also used to achieve \u201crapid, accurate results\u201d from at-home thermometers, so parents and kids here on Earth can get more efficient treatment.<\/p>\n

Spacecraft and astronauts need protection from heat and radiation just like portfolios and investors need protection from fiscal and monetary threats.<\/p>\n

Gold is a wealth preserver in both instances \u2014 the function it\u2019s served for thousands of years for European aristocrats, Middle East oil barons, New World industrial titans and central banks. It\u2019s a portfolio stabilizer and generational store of value.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a substance of interplanetary, interstellar, and intergalactic importance.<\/p>\n

Money Quote<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cWere we to be directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thomas Jefferson<\/p>\n

Smart Investing,<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Dittman
\nEditorial Director, Wall Street Daily<\/i><\/p>\n

The post There\u2019s Gold in Them Thar Spacecraft<\/a> appeared first on Wall Street Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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By WallStreetDaily.com Gold is well-known for protecting investors and their portfolios. But it can do so much more. Like protect astronauts and their spacecraft. When we do finally colonize the cosmos, that maiden voyage will be full of gold. But it won\u2019t serve as a medium of exchange for trade with Martians or denizens of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95822"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95829,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95822\/revisions\/95829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}