Space technology is an important symbol to measure a country's comprehensive strength and innovation ability, and it is also an important means to demonstrate a country's international status and influence. In the field of aerospace, there is a very challenging and promising direction, that is, space aircraft. Space aircraft refers to aircraft that can fly freely inside and outside the atmosphere and use it for many round-trips, which integrates the advantages of aircraft and spacecraft and can achieve fast, flexible, economical and reliable space transportation and application. Space aircraft is considered to be an important direction for future space development, and it is also a key project that countries are competing to develop.
However, the development of space aircraft is not easy, it faces many technical problems and challenges, the most critical of which is the selection of heat-proof materials. Heat-resistant materials are materials that maintain stability and structural integrity in high-temperature environments, which are critical to the safety and reliability of space aircraft. When space aircraft return to the atmosphere from space, they are subjected to high temperature ablation of up to 3,000 degrees or more, and if the heat protection material is not durable enough, it will cause the space plane to be damaged or fail. Therefore, the research and development level of heat-proof materials directly determines the development progress and success of space aircraft.
At present, there are two main types of heat-proof materials in the world: silicon-based thermal protection materials and carbon-based heat-proof materials. Silicon-based heatproof materials refer to heat-proof materials with silicon as the main component, which has good high temperature resistance and low thermal conductivity, but also has disadvantages, such as high density, low strength, easy cracking, etc. Carbon-based heatproof materials refer to heatproof materials with carbon as the main component, which has the advantages of light weight, high strength and high toughness, but also has disadvantages, such as easy oxidation and corrosion.
At present, most countries in the world still use silicon-based heat protection materials as the main heat protection materials for spacecraft. For example, the Apollo lunar landing spacecraft, space shuttle, Orion spacecraft, etc. in the United States have adopted silicon-based heat-proof materials. Although this heat-proof material has been improved and optimized for many years, it still has problems such as high weight, low strength, and difficult processing, which limits the performance and efficiency of spacecraft. Moreover, this heat-proof material can only withstand a high temperature of about 2000 degrees, and it will fail or be damaged at a high temperature of more than 3000 degrees.
China has always been at the forefront of innovation in the field of space, and it is no exception when it comes to heat-resistant materials. Recently, China announced a major breakthrough to the world: China successfully created a subversive heat-proof material, which can resist 3,000 degrees of high temperature and build space aircraft. This kind of heat-proof material is ultra-lightweight carbon-based micro-ablation heat-proof material, which is a heat-proof material with carbon as the main component, but unlike the traditional carbon-based heat-proof material, it adopts a special microstructure design and preparation process, so that it has the following excellent properties:
● Ultra-lightweight: The density of this heat-proof material is only 0.2 g/cubic centimeter, which is nearly 10 times lighter than silicon-based heat-proof materials and nearly 3 times lighter than traditional carbon-based heat-proof materials. This means that it can greatly reduce the weight of space aircraft, improve its load and efficiency.
● Ultra-high temperature resistance: This heat-proof material can withstand high temperatures above 3,000 degrees, nearly 1,000 degrees higher than silicon-based heat-proof materials, and nearly 500 degrees higher than traditional carbon-based heat-proof materials. This means that it can adapt to space flight at higher speeds and more complex environments, improving its safety and reliability.
● Super tough: This heat-proof material has high strength and toughness, and is not easy to crack and fall off. It adopts a microablation mechanism, that is, a protective layer is formed on the surface at high temperatures, isolating the contact between the internal structure and the external environment, thereby maintaining the integrity and stability of the internal structure.
● Super easy processing: This heat-proof material adopts a vacuum high-pressure filling process, which can achieve one molding within 8 hours, and can customize different shapes and sizes according to different needs. This is a world of difference from the way the United States uses manual filling.
This ultra-lightweight carbon-based micro-ablative heatproof material is another innovative achievement in China's aerospace field, which not only achieves a comprehensive surpass of similar international products in terms of weight, high temperature resistance, strength, toughness, etc., but also opens up a new technical route and provides strong support for the development of future aerospace aircraft. It is reported that this heatproof material has been successfully applied to China's new generation of manned spacecraft test ships, and has withstood the test of re-entry of the atmosphere at nearly the second cosmic speed. In the future, this heat-proof material will also be used in projects such as China's manned lunar spacecraft and space planes.
China has always dared to innovate and make breakthroughs in the field of aerospace, and has also shown strong independent innovation capabilities and leading advantages in heat-proof materials. China has successfully created a revolutionary heat-proof material that can resist 3,000 degrees of high temperature and be used in aerospace aircraft. This is a major achievement that China has shown to the world, and it is also an important signal that China has announced to the world: China has stood at the forefront of space technology development, and China already has the core technology to build space aircraft.