On the evening of October 31st, the Shenzhou-21 manned spacecraft, carrying a hot air oven developed by Joyoung, lifted off and successfully docked with the Chinese Space Station. This innovative device, hailed by the media as the "space stove", enabled astronauts to enjoy freshly baked meals from raw ingredients for the first time in orbit, effectively bringing a kitchen into the space station. 
Behind all this possibility lies a magical material - aerogel, which is a crucial support for the revolution of high-temperature baked food in space. 
What is aerogel? 
It has a form like smoke but can withstand temperatures up to 1000℃. 
Although the name "aerogel" sounds highly technological, it was actually discovered as early as the 1930s. 
Aerogel is a kind of nano-porous solid material formed by the aggregation of nanoparticles through special methods - just like countless tiny "sand grains" are closely packed together, but there are still many tiny gaps between these "sand grains". 
If you see aerogel for the first time, you might mistake it for a wisp of "frozen smoke". It looks translucent and is incredibly light, yet it is a genuine solid material. 
Why is aerogel so light? Because over 90% of it is composed of pores. Currently, the lightest aerogel has a density of only 0.16 kilograms per cubic meter, which is even lower than that of air and is the lightest solid material in the world. 
The superpowers of aerogel: 
The "Guardian" of the Space Kitchen 
In the space kitchen, the Joyoung hot air oven faces huge challenges: the interior of the machine needs to be heated to 190℃, while the outer side of the body must remain at a safe temperature to prevent astronauts from getting burned. At the same time, the space station has extremely high safety requirements for materials, and any release of harmful substances may endanger the health of astronauts. 
This is precisely where aerogel comes into its own! 
Super insulation, locking in heat. 
Aerogel has an extremely low thermal conductivity of 0.012 to 0.024 W/(m·K), and its heat insulation performance is 3 to 5 times that of traditional materials. This means it can effectively lock in heat and prevent it from escaping to the outside of the machine. 
2. Heat-resistant, fearless of flames 
Aerogel can withstand a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius without melting. When touching the flame-heated part of the heat-insulating aerogel directly with a finger, the finger hardly feels anything. This property makes it an ideal material for high-temperature environments in space kitchens. 
Aerogel: 
A Versatile Talent Beyond the Space Kitchen 
The applications of this magical material are far from being limited to the space kitchen. In daily life, aerogel also shows a wide range of application prospects: 
Building energy conservation: Aerogel composite insulation boards feature light weight, low thermal conductivity, moisture resistance, sound insulation, and flame retardancy. 
In the field of environmental protection: Carbon sponge aerogel can absorb up to 900 times its own weight of oil spills and is a powerful tool for dealing with oil spills at sea. 
New energy industry: Fireproof and heat-insulating aerogel sheets for lithium batteries, heat-insulating layers for bipolar plates of hydrogen fuel cells, etc. 
Industrial insulation: It has broad application prospects in fields such as steel and metallurgy, building materials industry, power industry, and petrochemical industry. 
The future is promising. 
Aerogels will soon be available to ordinary people. 
With technological advancements, Shandong Institute of Industrial Ceramics is promoting the application of aerogel from extreme environments to public welfare projects, enhancing energy efficiency in affordable housing and improving living conditions in the renovation of old residential areas. 
Perhaps in the near future, the walls, refrigerators and even clothes in our homes will all be made of aerogel materials, allowing this "space material" to safeguard our lives. 
From the space kitchen to daily life, this magical material that seems like smoke or mist, aerogel, is creating more possibilities for human life with its outstanding performance. The continuous innovation of China National Building Materials in the field of new materials enables astronauts to enjoy freshly baked food in space, bringing the scenes of science fiction closer to reality step by step.