Mateo Jarquin
Traditions are something common among everyone around the world. For some, it's eating a turkey on Thanksgiving, and for others it's eating grapes on New Years. But for NASA engineers, it's a 1 hour pumpkin carving contest. Additionally, for NASA engineers, the moon is the limit. And don’t worry about them wasting their time, this whole competition is done on their own time. In this article, we will go over five of the most impressive pumpkins ever created for NASA’s annual competition.
5. The Supernova
This pumpkin was designed to look like an exploding star. However, what distinguishes it is that it was made in honor of Anthony Ganino. Who was a member of the technical staff. He played a key role in the design and mechanisms in multiple machines designed for space and Mars exploration. It’s only right that his
passing was commemorated through the death of a star.
4. Gravitational pull
The team behind this pumpkin really went all out. This is a pumpkin that is meant to demonstrate a planet’s gravitational pull; they accomplished this by using propellers to push a wire with lights attached to it in order to give the appearance of an orbit. However, it's the attention to detail that really separates this from the rest. As you can see this team built a whole enclosure to simulate space, including stars, other pumpkin planets, and even other orbitals.
3. The Death Star
Any Star Wars fans out there are sure to love this one. The complex carving of the exterior combined with miniature lights really seals the deal. The tie fighters in the back also help to give it a story, and the use of glow sticks to represent lasers, gives this pumpkin a unique yet straightforward look. You don’t always need mechanical systems to make a pumpkin look good. Sometimes, all it takes are some cleverly placed glow sticks.
2. The Planet Explorer
As you can tell the team behind this pumpkin really likes science fiction. The bendable legs along with the LED lights, and moveable arms, make you forget that this is even a pumpkin. The countless stories that you can imagine by just looking at its futuristic design is crazy. Some might even say, it's out of this world.
1. The Infinite Paperwork
If you thought the other pumpkins were impressive, then take a look at this creation. The Infinite Paperwork is designed to resemble a spacecraft, as made evident by the solar panels and the windows. And the name, The Infinite Paperwork, refers to the enormous amount of paperwork required by NASA to create and launch any form of spacecraft into space. The crew went one step further by fastening papers to hidden strings, giving the illusion that everything was floating in space.In conclusion, out of all the pumpkin’s in this contest, this one truly encapsulates the spirit of NASA.
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