What is the connection between a fixed orthodontic brace and a space shuttle and why? My orthodontist asked me this

Question: What is the connection between a fixed orthodontic brace and a space shuttle and why? My orthodontist asked me this question one day and I have to go back with the correct answer. plz help ?
- Keywords:
  brace,
  space shuttle,
  teeth
Asked by howtaunk1 to Adam, Catherine, Karen, Leila, Nazim on 16 Mar 2012.
- Adam Stevens answered on 15 Mar 2012:
  
  The best answer I can think of is that maybe the braces are made with materials similar to the ones used on the space shuttle. A quick google says that modern ones use ceramics that might be similar to the thermal protection system.
  
  Will your dentist pull your teeth out if you get it wrong?
- Catherine Rix answered on 16 Mar 2012:
  
  I’ve done some googling and I think I might have found the answer. The wires and brackets in your braces are made from a compound called nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium. It has a special property called shape memory which means that your braces don’t have to be tightened as often as traditional stainless steel ones because it doesn’t kink when it is bent, it remembers it’s original shape. This material is used in space shuttles and was also used for the arms of the Hubble telescope to allow the solar panels to open automatically when it reached space. Invisible braces are also based on materials developed for space flight. There are lots of other Earth applications for materials and technologies originally developed for space too.
- Karen Masters answered on 16 Mar 2012:
  
  How cool! I learned something. Thanks for looking it up Adam and Catherine. 🙂
- Leila Battison answered on 19 Mar 2012:
  
  Very cool! You wouldn’t want to get mixed up and go in for a brace and end up being shot into space! Nor would you want to train for months to be an astronaut and think you were going to space and actually end up with a brace!
  
  I had a brace for a few months when I was little. The dentist asked me what colour elastic bands I wanted, and at the time my favourite colour was green so I asked for green… I didn’t think what they would look like on – it looked like my teeth were mouldy!