Michel Lamontagne at 22:20, 19 February 2025

2025-02-19T22:20:26Z

RichardWSmith: Misspelled page name. oops.

2024-09-17T06:12:11Z

Misspelled page name. oops.

New page

Aerogels are substances which are very light and have great thermal resistance. Their use on Mars would be a powerful insulator which could be shipped from Earth at a low cost in mass. (Tho they would take up a fair volume.)

They are created by creating a gel and forming a micro web of a stronger material (say silica), then evaporating the gel material away, leaving the internal web surrounding air. Such aerogels are very light (they are mostly air), and tend to be brittle. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel | Aerogel on Wikipedia.</ref>

They provide low radiation resistance, since they contain very little matter.

Likely Martian settlers will try to use local materials to build insulation, which would be far cheaper, and provide more radiation resistance. But for specialized purposes where very high resistance to heat and strong thermal protection, aerogels may be used.

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==References==

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 Aerogels are substances which are very light and have great thermal resistance.  Their use on Mars would be a powerful insulator which could be shipped from Earth at a low cost in mass.  (Tho they would take up a fair volume.)
-They are created by creating a gel and forming a micro web of a stronger material (say silica), then evaporating the gel material away, leaving the internal web surrounding air.  Such aerogels are very light (they are mostly air), and tend to be brittle. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel | Aerogel on Wikipedia.</ref>
+They are fabricated by creating a gel and forming a micro web of a stronger material (say silica), then evaporating the gel material away, leaving the internal web surrounding air.  Such aerogels are very light (they are mostly air), and tend to be brittle. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel | Aerogel on Wikipedia.</ref>
 They provide low radiation resistance, since they contain very little matter.
-Likely Martian settlers will try to use local materials to build insulation, which would be far cheaper, and provide more radiation resistance.  But for specialized purposes where very high resistance to heat and strong thermal protection, aerogels may be used.
+Likely Martian settlers will try to use local materials to build insulation, which would be far cheaper, and provide more radiation resistance.  But for specialized purposes where very high resistance to heat and strong thermal protection, aerogels may be used.  Cellular glass may be a practical alternative on Mars.
 ==References==

Aerogel - Revision history

Michel Lamontagne at 22:20, 19 February 2025

RichardWSmith: Misspelled page name. oops.