Halloween is just a day away , and if you ’re a space buff there ’s no better style to celebrate than with a cheeky cosmos - themed pumpkin .
Thank the stars for NASA then , as the agency has once again hosted its yearly pumpkin - pull in contest ( here’slast yr ’s effort ) on Monday October 29 , with some fantastic efforts on whirl .
NASA hosts the contest at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) in Pasadena , California every year . This class was their 7th rival , giving engineers the fortune to show they ’re not just good at building spacecraft .
" I do n’t think , even at the time , they apprize just how seriously our engineers were go to take it , " NASA mechanical engineer Mike Meacham , who co - start the contest , say in astatementabout the first contest . His team came in third place last year .
There is no prize per se on offer other than the joy of make headway , while newbie must not do any pumpkin workplace during regular post time of day – you know , when they ’re think to be research the Solar System and whatnot .
Instead , Meacham say they do it in their own time and be after out their design in progress before being given a pumpkin vine to put their innovation to lifespan . He bring on his thought for six months before this yr ’s competition .
The victor last twelvemonth was Mars 2020 rover engineer Iona Brockie , who designed apirate ship sailing past Jupiter ’s icy moon Europa , inspired by NASA ’s Europa Clipper that will found next decade .
NASA posted the entrants from this class on theirFlickr business relationship , and there were some really fantastic figure . Among our personal favorites is the Saturn pumpkin eating a model of the Cassini spacecraft ( above ) , and the rather incredible pumpkin battle bots .
Check out some of our top picking below . And if you want to have your own go at stimulate a space - theme pumpkin , then NASA has bring ahandy guidefor you .
