What is in the picture?

What is it used for?

luckycatfay, originally NASA wanted a net to catch tiny space particles, to analyse what is all the dust made of. Low weight was super important. Many uses have been found for it since. But I don't recall.

luckycatfay, Part 2 At about $23,000 per pound, Aerogel is currently more expensive than Gold

luckycatfay, Metal oxide aerogels are used as catalysts in various chemical reactions/transformations or as precursors for other materials. Aerogels made with aluminium oxide are known as alumina aerogels. These aerogels are used as catalysts, especially when "doped" with a metal other than aluminium. Aerogels are advanced materials that, due to their ultra-porous structure, allow engineers to design not only new thermal insulation for space suits and vehicles, but also filters, batteries, solar heat collectors, and more. However, “aerogels” are not a type of material. NASA has used aerogel in several space exploration missions over the last two decades. Aerogel has been used as a hypervelocity particle capture medium (Stardust) and as thermal insulation for the Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers, and Mars Science Lander.

luckycatfay, never heard of it!!