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10:15 am
February 4, 2010
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brmj
| | Rochester, New York, United States | |
| Member | posts 402 | |
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I recently got linked to a company called Aspen Aerogels that makes flexible aerogel insulation, primarily for industry. As far as I can tell, this would be just about perfect for insulating our low- and high-temperature components. If you don't know what aerogel is, here's the wikipedia page.
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Main work groups: Propulsion (booster), Spacecraft Engineering, Computer Systems, Navigation and Guidance (software)
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5:34 pm
February 4, 2010
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Luke Maurits
| | Adelaide, Australia | |
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Nice find. This could be excellent stuff to insulate cryogenic propellant tanks with – especially on the lander, where mass is super critical. The fact that it shatters when pressed hard enough is something of a concern, with regards to micrometeoroids, but I'm sure we could find a solution to this.
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Main CLLARE workgroups: Mission Planning, Navigation and Guidance. I do maths, physics, C, Python and Java.
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12:27 am
February 5, 2010
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Rocket-To-The-Moon
| | Altus, Oklahoma, USA | |
| Member | posts 685 | |
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Post edited 12:28 am – February 5, 2010 by Rocket-To-The-Moon
Aerogel is very cool stuff. I've never had the opportunity to see it in person, but I can imagine that it would be the perfect material for lightweight insulation. I think the issue will be cost….sponsorship is a potential way around this.
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Main Workgroups: Propulsion & Spacecraft Engineering
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1:02 am
February 5, 2010
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brmj
| | Rochester, New York, United States | |
| Member | posts 402 | |
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I suspect it isn't quite as expensive as you fear. It is getting cheap enough that they are now selling low end aerogel insulation for ordinary buildings, and our stuff actually isn't all that big, compared to some of what it is used with. I agree, though, that it certainly couldn't hurt to ask if they would sponsor us.
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Main work groups: Propulsion (booster), Spacecraft Engineering, Computer Systems, Navigation and Guidance (software)
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1:41 am
April 23, 2010
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KellyJ
| | Australia | |
| Member | posts 15 | |
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Hi guys,
It seems like aerogel is still quite experimental. I agree with Luke that it is a bit of a worry how brittle it is. The structure will flex and shake a lot especially during launch, and having the insulation flake off or crack would be a problem. One interesting note from the wiki article:
Transparent silica aerogel would be very suitable as a thermal insulation material for windows, significantly limiting thermal losses of buildings
This could be used between the layers of the windows to help prevent heat loss. On second reading of that, they are making aerogel blankets which solve the brittle problem by adding fibres to it. I wonder how far along the research is and wether useable products are being made from it… Not just for insulating the high/low temperature components and fuel tanks but also a possibility for the heat shielding depending on the durability of it?
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