NASA Internal Advisory: NASA-Issued Return to Flight Wristbands Contaminated with Silicone

1. SUBJECT: Wristbands Contaminated with Silicone

2. MANUFACTURER: Century 2001, Inc PAGE 1 OF 2

3. PROCUREMENT SPEC: UNKNOWN

4. CAGE CODE: None

5. PART/MATERIAL NUMBER: Unknown

6. LOT DATE CODE: Unknown

7. FSC CODE:

8. REFERENCE: NASA “Return to-Flight EXPLORE, DISCOVER, UNDERSTANDING” wristbands

NASA ADVISORY OFFICIAL BUSINESS

U. S. GOVERNMENT GENERAL INFORMATION

This is a NASA Advisory issued in accordance with the requirements of NASA Procedures and Guidelines 8735.1, “Procedures for Exchanging Parts, Materials, and Safety Problem Data Utilizing NASA Advisories and the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program.” For information concerning processing and actions required to be conducted in conjunction with this information, refer to your contract or NASA Procedures and Guidelines 8735.1.

9. RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE: The information in a NASA Advisory is for internal NASA use only. Distribution is limited to persons who require knowledge of its contents to aid them in minimizing adverse effects on NASA projects and equipment under their purview. This information has been compiled and presented as accurately, completely, and objectively as possible consistent with the primary objective of alerting potentially affected projects as early as possible. A NASA Advisory is not intended and shall not be interpreted to imply discredit on any manufacturer or to imply that other products may be preferred. This information may be altered, revised or rescinded by subsequent developments or additional tests; these changes could be communicated by other NASA documents. Neither NASA, the United States government, nor any person acting on their behalf, assumes any liability resulting from any distribution or use of this information.

10. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: Recently we have been made aware of a silicone problem associated with the “Return to Flight” wristbands. These wristbands are contaminated with silicone. Silicone is used in the manufacture of numerous products, mainly as a release agent, which aids in the removal of casted or molded plastics from the mold’s surface. The problem with silicone is that a small amount goes along way. Silicone is easily transferred (cross contamination) and inhibits bonding. Less than .250 mg/ft2 causes a shift in failure modes. Silicone is an issue in electrical fabrication and inspection and test areas. If you get silicone on the leads of a piece part, the silicone impairs the soldering process and gives a bad solder joint. Conformal coating will not stick to silicone either and will cause the parts on the board not to accept the conformal coating. What you need to know is that all of these type wristbands (Lance Armstrong’s, Breast Cancer Awareness, and Return to Flight) use virtually the same production techniques, meaning that they are all contaminated with silicone. Therefore, caution should be exercised when wearing these wristbands. If your operation is sensitive to silicone contamination, then these wristbands should not be worn in or during these operations. A picture of a typical wristband and its original packaging are included on the second page. While the example is green, this problem exists on wristbands of various colors.

11. ACTION TAKEN: Please do not wear these in our facilities and keep your eyes open for others that do not get this message. A Quality Alert has been issued at our Wasatch Facilities due to the serious nature of what silicone can do to our processes.

12. NAME/TITLE OF ORIGINATOR: Jennifer McCarter NASA Headquarters

13. ORIGINATOR PHONE NUMBER: 202-358-1639

14.DATE PREPARED: May 5, 2005

15. RELEASED BY: (Signature)

16. MSFC Advisory Coordinator NASA Advisory Number: ORIGINAL SIGNED BY Sandra Haraway for PRINCE KALIA Prince Kalia MSFC GIDEP ALERT Coordinator NASA MSFC QD40 – Safety and Mission Assurance , Phone: (256)544-6871 Fax (256) 544-8470 NA-MSFC- 2005-01