A process for the preparation of transparent silica gels which can be used as crystal growth media is disclosed. A quantity of cation exchange resin beads is placed in a solution of a soluble potassium salt and stirred for several hours to allow the potassium ions to replace the cations on the resin beads. The supernatant liquid is then decanted through a filter, and the treated resin beads are rinsed with distilled water to remove excess salts. The treated resin beads are then transferred into a sodium silicate solution. The resulting mixture is stirred to allow the potassium ions on the treated resin beads to exchange with the sodium ions in the sodium silicate solution. The treated silicate solution is then poured through a coarse filter. A volume of boiled, cooled distilled water is added to a volume of the treated silicate solution, after which a volume of acetic acid solution is added to the mixture of distilled water and treated silicate solution. This mixture is then allowed to gel at room temperature, whereby a transparent silica gel is produced. The transparent silica gel is used as a crystal growth medium to simulate the convectionless environment of space and produce structurally perfect crystals.