The PBS-TV show "History Detectives" came to Duluth this year to film a segment about a mysterious instrument panel.

Staffers visited the tiny labs of MVA Scientific Consultants, tucked away in a Duluth office park, known for doing big business with small things.

Stacey Young/syoung@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Family lore said that this palm-size instrument panel came from the wreckage of the downed airship that burned in 1937.

The company solves cases for clients around the world, in fields ranging from manufacturing and forensics to art, environmental companies and the law.

In this case, the popular history show that frames historical narratives with objects submitted by viewers needed help solving a mystery involving a palm-sized instrument panel. Family lore held that it had been saved from the wreckage of the Hindenburg airship that burned in 1937.

But only super-high-powered microscopes and historical know-how could say for sure.

The TV crew documented co-host Elyse Luray's trip to MVA in February, where she interviewed senior research scientist Michelle Cavaliere, who specializes in materials analysis.

Cavaliere had about two weeks between the show's first call and the film crew's arrival to learn everything she could about pre-WWII German manufacturing, before she could begin her micro-detective work.

"I spent hours, "Cavaliere said at the time, "researching materials used in paint in the 1930s."

Turns out that's business as usual at MVA, whose motto is "focused on the science of small things."

Luray's Hindenburg segment includes historical footage of the crash and a visit to the site.

It airs at midnight Thursday on GPB/Channel 8 and 9 p.m. Aug. 6 on WPBA/Channel 30.