Aerogel Outline

Aerogel Outline

Intro:

Attn Getter: No matter what is being created, people are always trying to make it better. Only very rarely are improvements made that are as dramatic as the advances made with Aerogel.

Quick Facts: Weight, insulation and composition of Aerogel.

Body:

1. How it is made

a. Extraction process and cooking procedure

b. Cost is $1 per cubic cm

2. NASA’s uses

a. Particle Capture

i. Stardust Spacecraft Mission

b. Insulation of space craft

i. Future insulation of space suits

ii. See also Mars Pathfinder Rover

3. Other potential uses

a. Filter water

b. Insulate clothing

i. Anne Parmenter climbs Everest with Aerogel boots

c. Armor

i. Aerogel withstands blast from 1kg of dynamite

Conclusion:

Aerogel is a truly amazing innovation that has the potential to benefit all of humanity in the very near future.

Works Cited:

“Aerogel Photos” http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/photo/aerogel.html 10 September 2007

Aspen Aerogels Inc “Pyrogel” Aspen Aerogels http://www.aerogel.com/products/pdf/Pyrogel_3350_6350_10350_DS.pdf 2007. 10 September 2007

Aspen Aerogels Inc “Spaceloft” Aspen Aerogels http://www.aerogel.com/products/pdf/Spaceloft_3251_6251_9251_DS.pdf 2007. 10 September 2007

Berkley Labs “Thermal Properties of Silica Aerogels” http://fourier.mech.virginia.edu/~microhx/thermalproperties.html 10 September 2007.

Taher, Abul “Scientists hail ‘frozen smoke’ as material that will change the world.” Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2284349.ece 19 August 2007. 10 September 2007.