Listen: The wool flew said Nick Davenport of Lanaco

Although his woolen innovation company is able to send his products to space, Nick Davenport says his mission is a little more down-to-earth.

"We are on the long way here to really revive the wool industry."

The chief executive of Lanaco told Jamie Mackay of The Country Group about the exciting news that their wool-based filter technology is one of the many systems evaluated by NASA to protect astronauts during missions. 39, exploration in deep space.

Read more: Sheep space: Is New Zealand wool about to fly to Mars?

Lanaco has developed a breed of sheep called Astino for the company's "flagship products," a success that Davenport hopes will impact on the New Zealand wool industry.

"For filtration, we create a breeding goal using Astino sheep to meet the needs of the market," says Davenport, "which will have spin-offs in all sectors of the industry."

Although NASA's interest has allowed Lanaco to get a good publicity, Davenport said the company is still focused on issues closer to the country, such as "the huge global problem. "atmospheric pollution.

"We believe [the technology] which is used to protect people [from] air pollution, is the same thing that can be used in the space. "

Davenport describes Astino fiber as belonging to the category "the thinnest end".

Mackay asks if this product could be the savior of New Zealand's struggling coarse wool market.

"The strong wool will be strongly influenced by what we do, not only in this area, but also in the other technological developments we are working on, so that our program benefits the entire wool industry – not just at Our program."