Aerogel has won 15 Guinness world records such as "known ultralight solid". It has shown excellent performance in thermal, acoustic, mechanical, optical and electronic fields. It is recognized by the scientific community as "the material that will change the world".
A few days ago, researchers at Harvard University, the University of Edinburgh and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found a new "use" for aerogel materials: transforming Mars.
American astronomer and popular science writer Carl Sagan once boldly imagined that the evaporation of the Arctic ice sheet may produce a Martian atmosphere, forming a greenhouse effect, causing the temperature to rise, and greatly increasing the possibility of liquid water, so Mars will become As suitable for human habitation as the earth.
However, a NASA study last year showed that all available resources on Mars will only increase the atmospheric pressure to about 7% of the earth, which is far lower than the pressure needed to make Mars suitable for human habitation. The hope of "transforming" Mars as a whole is extremely slim.
In view of this, American and British scientists have proposed a "Mars local modification aerogel scheme": silica aerogel is a translucent material that can transmit sunlight; Aerogel is also a thermal insulation material with a thermal conductivity of 0.010W/(m K), which can isolate heat emission. Therefore, silica aerogel with a thickness of 2 to 3cm is used as a "thermal insulation quilt", A part of Mars can be terraformed.
Through modeling and experiments, the researchers proved that 3cm aerogel particles can maintain a temperature difference of 45°C above and below, while 2cm aerogel tiles can make the temperature difference exceed 50°C. At this temperature, the water under the aerogel material will remain in a liquid state all year round, allowing plants and other organisms to survive in this area and be protected from ultraviolet rays. Moreover, all of this is achieved without any internal heat source. The results of the study have been published in the new issue of the British journal Nature Astronomy.
Co-author of the paper and a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Laura Kebel, said that this method of building livable zones allows people to "transform" Mars in a controlled and large-scale manner. The research team plans to test it on the ground in dry and cold Mars-like environments such as the Atacama Desert in Chile and the McMurdo Dry Valley in Antarctica.
However, Robin Wadsworth, the former author of the paper and an assistant professor of environmental science and engineering at Harvard University, said that the "Mars local modification aerogel program" still faces some engineering challenges. For example, according to the current climate model, a large amount of aerogel needs to be transported to Mars, and it will take at least 2 Martian years (about 4 Earth years) to form a liquid water region.
