The History of Memory Foam

Memory foam is a common term used in our lexicon today. Used as material to construct items from mattresses, pillows, toppers and much more, people hail memory foam as a new innovation with numerous implications. However, you might be surprised to know that memory foam is anything but new. Actually, the material has been around for awhile and had a surprising beginning.

Originally, memory foam was developed by NASA in 1966. As part of an attempt by NASA scientists to make aircraft cushions even safer, the concept of memory foam was born. NASA hoped that it could help reduce the impact of gravitational forces upon its astronauts at lift-off. Its predecessor was dubbed T-foam, short for Temper Foam. It had unique properties that allowed it to act like both a solid and liquid simultaneously. They sought a material that would respond to temperature as well as being able to spread over a large surface area. AS a result, pressure points could thus be reduced. Initially, T-foam was not as durable as memory foam. Over time, it was shown to crack after only a year or two. NASA wanted a material that was more durable and eventually stopped the project. Therefore, the material never did make it to outer space but NASA continued to hold patents for the unique substance.

One of the creators of T-foam, Charles Yost later created his own company, along with NASA support, to make the form available to the public for other uses. T-foam became used in padding for x-ray tables and sports equipment. As time progressed, so did the uses for the foam.

Finally, in the early 80's NASA relinquished its domination over memory foam and allowed it to be part of public domain. More and more companies sprang up utilizing the material for various purposes. It wasn't until the early 1990's that memory foam became a component of mattresses. The first mattresses were attractive to hospitals who wanted to find a way to decrease patient pain. In the past, memory foam wasn't commonplace, therefore, it was quite expense and not as widely known as today.

Memory foam is now used to make memory foam mattresses, and these can be bought from Memory Foam Mattress Direct today.