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Comet-Catching NASA Technology Enables Exotic Works of Art

Comet-Catching NASA Technology Enables Exotic Works of Art

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A grid of aerogel-based collectors waiting to be attached to the Stardust mission. An engineer in the background is gesturing to it.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory perfected aerogel for the Stardust mission. Under Stardust, bricks of aerogel covered panels on a spacecraft that flew behind a comet, with the microporous material “soft catching” any particles that might strike it and preserving them for return to Earth.

NASA

Consisting of 99% air, aerogel is the world’s lightest solid. This unique material has found purpose in several forms — from NASA missions to high fashion.

Driven by the desire to create a 3D cloud, Greek artist, Ioannis Michaloudis, learned to use aerogel as an artistic medium. His journey spanning more than 25 years took him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge; Shivaji University in Maharashtra, India, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

A researcher at MIT introduced Michaloudis to aerogel after hearing of his cloud-making ambition, and he was immediately intrigued. Aerogel is made by combining a polymer with a solvent to create a gel and flash-drying it under pressure, leaving a solid filled with microscopic pores.

Scientists at JPL chose aerogel in the mid-1990s to enable the Stardust mission, with the idea that a porous surface could capture particles while flying on a probe behind a comet. Aerogel worked in lab tests, but it was difficult to manufacture consistently and needed to be made space-worthy. NASA JPL hired materials scientist Steve Jones to develop a flight-ready aerogel, and he eventually got funding for an aerogel lab.

The aerogel AirSwipe bag Michaloudis created for Coperni’s 2024 fall collection debut appears almost luminous in its model’s hand. The bag immediately captured the world’s attention.

Coperni

The Stardust mission succeeded, and when Michaloudis heard of it, he reached out to JPL, where Jones invited him to the lab. Now retired, Jones recalled, “I went through the primer on aerogel with him, the different kinds you could make and their different properties.” The size of Jones’ reactor, enabling it to make large objects, impressed Michaloudis. With tips on how to safely operate a large reactor, he outfitted his own lab with one.

In India, Michaloudis learned recipes for aerogels that can be molded into large objects and don’t crack or shrink during drying. His continued work with aerogels has created an extensive art portfolio.

Michaloudis has had more than a dozen solo exhibitions. All his artwork involves aerogel, drawing attention with its unusual qualities. An ethereal, translucent blue, it casts an orange shadow and can withstand molten metals.
In 2020, Michaloudis created a quartz-encapsulated aerogel pendant for the centerpiece of that year’s collection from French jewelry house Boucheron. Michaloudis also captured the fashion and design world’s attention with a handbag made of aerogel, unveiled at Coperni’s 2024 fall collection debut.

NASA was a crucial step along the way. “I am what I am, and we made what we made thanks to the Stardust project,” said Michaloudis.