Omni-Heat thermal insulation (Columbia Sportswear)

IM-1 · landed · commercial payload

Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Heat Infinity, a gold heat-reflective lining used in its jackets, covering the lander's A2 access panel to insulate the cryogenic propulsion tank. It is part of the lander's thermal protection rather than a separate instrument; Wikipedia lists it among IM-1's commercial payloads.

PI: not in public sources (Haskell Beckham, Columbia's vice president of innovation, speaks for it)
Built by: Columbia Sportswear (Portland, Oregon), with Intuitive Machines, which tested and installed it (company)

Technology	thermal insulation material (lander thermal control)
Moon Base need	#0301 (The study's reading, and weak. No NASA source ties this material to a Moon Base need. Intuitive Machines says it is looking at the material to help its landers survive the lunar night, the subject of gap #0301.)
Route onto CLPS	commercial; A partnership between Columbia Sportswear and Intuitive Machines, announced in December 2021 (Intuitive Machines release of 9 December). Not a NASA payload. The partnership continued on IM-2.; 2021-12-09
Timeline	first funding not in public sources; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2021-12-09 (partnership announced); launch 2024-02-15; landing 2024-02-22
On the Moon	operated as planned
FO	none

Flights before the Moon

None found in the public sources.

Heritage hardware

• design heritage (Apollo thermal blankets): Intuitive Machines says Columbia's gold-dot lining grew out of the Kapton-coated thermal blankets on the Apollo lunar modules. Before IM-1 the fabric had only been tested on Earth, in apparel and in Intuitive Machines' laboratory simulations.

"They took the Kapton coating from Apollo and turned it into the reflective discs in their jackets"
— Lunar lining: Columbia coat tech insulates Intuitive Machines moon lander

"In laboratory simulations leading up to the 2022 launch, Intuitive Machines researchers determined the gold metallic foil of Columbia's Omni-Heat Infinity will provide insulation-related benefits for the lunar lander."
— Intuitive Machines to use Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Heat Infinity technology on lunar surface

"our Omni-Heat Infinity technology has been tested in many challenging environments on Earth, but the Moon represents a first for us"
— Intuitive Machines to use Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Heat Infinity technology on lunar surface

Funding before the lunar flight

• Columbia Sportswear's own product; the partnership's terms are not public. No NASA, SBIR or other federal award to Columbia Sportswear found. (private (Columbia Sportswear and Intuitive Machines); not in public sources): amount not in public sources

How it got onto CLPS

"Columbia Sportswear's new Omni-Heat Infinity reflective technology will be incorporated into Intuitive Machines' upcoming mission to the moon, according to a Dec. 9 media release"
— Intuitive Machines to use Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Heat Infinity technology on lunar surface

"Following a multi-year scientific partnership first announced in 2021"
— Columbia Sportswear’s Omni-Heat Infinity Supports Historic U.S. Return To The Moon

On the Moon

By Columbia's account, IM-1 'demonstrated the insulative power and durability' of the material. No measurements have been published. Columbia and Intuitive Machines flew it again on IM-2, on the helium tank, with a second Columbia material on the top deck.

"During the IM-1 mission, we demonstrated the insulative power and durability of our Omni-Heat Infinity technology to help protect the lander"
— Columbia Sportswear and Intuitive Machines Expand Scientific Partnership with Upcoming Lunar Miss…, Columbia press release, Feb 2025

"this time to insulate the helium tank on Athena"
— Columbia Sportswear and Intuitive Machines Expand Scientific Partnership with Upcoming Lunar Miss…

FO's role

Grade: none. No FO project, flight or report names Columbia Sportswear or Omni-Heat (search of the 430 FO TechPort records, FO's pages and FO's reports, 4 October 2026). Not in the study's earlier traceback, which covered NASA payloads only.

Who built it

"The A2 access panel (at left center) on Intuitive Machines' IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander is covered in Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Heat Infinity technology"
— Lunar lining: Columbia coat tech insulates Intuitive Machines moon lander, space.com / collectSPACE, Feb 2024

"|''Omni-Heat''{{r|space.com1}} |[[Columbia Sportswear]] |[[Space blanket]]"
— Wikipedia article "IM-1", revision 1376835835 of 2026-09-26T14:47:54Z, Wikipedia, revision 1376835835

Moon Base need

"We are looking at how we can use the Columbia technology to keep our landers alive during the cold [lunar, 14-Earth-day] night"
— Lunar lining: Columbia coat tech insulates Intuitive Machines moon lander

"Develop extreme temperature-tolerant mechanisms and electronics for operating through"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base technology and knowledge challenges, Headline challenge 2, technology challenge

Open questions

• Did Intuitive Machines publish temperature data showing how the panel performed on IM-1? Not in public sources.
• What lab tests (thermal vacuum, radiation) did the material pass before flight? The sources say only 'laboratory simulations'.