April 1984
From The Space Library
Science reported that the first commercial product manufactured in space, 15 grams of 10-micrometer polystyrene spheres that were produced on the STS-6 mission, would soon be transferred from NASA to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) for sale to the public. The spheres could be used for calibration of microscopes, laser light scattering equipment, and particle sizing equipment. The spheres also had potential uses in biomedical sciences, particularly for sizing of pores and membranes. The spheres fit the two key criteria for space manufacturing: they could not be made on Earth, and they were very expensive.
NBS would divide the 15 grams of spheres into 1,000 samples, each of which would sell for about $350. Total value of the spheres would thus be about $23,000. (Science, Apr 84, 265)
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