Tempur-Pedic

Tempur-Pedic International, Inc. () is a manufacturer and distributor of mattresses and pillows made from viscoelastic memory foam. The company's headquarters is located in Lexington, Kentucky.

History

On their company website Tempur-Pedic gives a brief history of their product:<blockquote>In the early 1970s, NASA developed a pressure-absorbing material to help cushion and support astronauts during lift-off. The material was temperature-sensitive and it evenly distributed body weight. NASA released this material to the public in the 1980s” (“Tempur-Pedic History” 1).

In 1971, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in an effort to relieve astronauts of the G-force experienced during lift-off, developed a viscoelastic pressure-relieving material that would be placed in space shuttles. After completion, this formula was made public by NASA. Although useful astronautically, the material originally proved unstable for commercial use.

However, after several years of research and development by NASA, they succeeded in developing a proprietary formulation and proprietary process to manufacture a stable, durable and commercially viable product. The idea was soon acquired by Fagerdala World Foams, a Swedish technical foam firm. Fagerdala spent years perfecting their formula and once complete, named their consumer version of the foam ‘TEMPUR’. The breakthroughs led...
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