An essay on the philosophical aspects of materials science in the absence of a modern philosophical category "material" is presented. The features of the categories "substance" and "material" are considered, which express the distinctive properties of the corresponding objects of nature - the formlessness of the substance and the proper form of the material, the size of the particles of the substance and the structural form of the material. Substance-material mutual transformations, their energy aspects, a certain conditionality of the substance-material boundary, and adequate filling of the corresponding categories are analyzed. Also noted is the virtual reality of the elements of the structure of matter and material, its dependence on the distorting influence of experimental tools. The prospects of translating the regularities of matter-material transformation to extraterrestrial objects are noted.