Years again I was on a tour of the Johnson space center in Houston, home of the astronaut training facility. As we were looking at a return capsule I noticed t

Years again I was on a tour of the Johnson space center in Houston, home of the astronaut training facility. As we were looking at a return capsule I noticed that the interior surfaces were finished with some kind of wood, which struck me as odd, and I asked if it was for aesthetics. The astronaut standing near me explained that wood had the best trade-off of many criteria including weight and durability, and the goal was not to look like an 80s station wagon dashboard.