Sodium chromate is highly corrosive to humans (as well as carcinogenic, see the movie Erin Brockovich). However, it inhibits corrosion in metal, acting as a pas

Sodium chromate is highly corrosive to humans (as well as carcinogenic, see the movie Erin Brockovich). However, it inhibits corrosion in metal, acting as a passivating inhibitor, forming some sort of protective oxide. I've been doing a lot of research on the impact of Minuteman and Apollo on the IC industry (which led to the current post). The Air Force likes to take credit for the IC industry, as does NASA, but the actual influence is debatable. My take is that both projects had a large impact on the IC industry, more from Minuteman. However, even in the absence of both projects, there was a lot of interest and demand for ICs. If I had to take a quantitative guess, I'd say that those projects advanced ICs by maybe a year, but the basic trajectory would have remained the same.