Planetary Pumpkins Shine at JPL Sculpture Contest in 2018 (Photos)



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Cosmic Halloween! Planetary Pumpkins Shine at NASA JPL 2018 Sculpture Contest (Photos)

This tribute to NASA's NASA mission to NASA is part of the seventh annual Jet Propulsion Laboratory pumpkin carving competition held on October 29, 2018.

Credit: J. Krohn / JPL-Caltech / NASA

Aerospace engineers can carve an average pumpkin.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. – the agency's favorite center for robotic planetary exploration – held its seventh annual Pumpkin Carving Contest this week, and the results have been as impressive as you can imagine.

A competitor's pumpkin has been designated by the name of Saturn devouring a spacecraft – a clear tribute to NASA's Cassini mission, which ended more than 13 years of revolutionary work in the Saturn system last September with an intentional dive into the thick atmosphere of the planet. [More Photos of NASA’s 2018 Space Pumpkin Carving Contest!]

Another even more elaborate design is focused on NASA's plans to study Jupiter's Moon, Europa, which is home to an ocean of liquid water under its icy shell. The agency is currently developing a $ 2 billion mission called Europa Clipper, which is scheduled to launch in the early 2020s. Clipper will put Jupiter into orbit and will examine Europa from dozens of overflights, evaluating the livability of the Moon and looking for touchdown locations for a future lander looking for life.

The JPL tribute to Halloween featured a pumpkin clipper on the probably steep surface of Europa. The clipper – the winner of last year's sculpture competition – was hit by a rotating drill with a submarine hanging from the pumpkin, which said (via a word bubble): "All these worlds are at you, except in Europe, land here! "

This participant in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2018 Pumpkin Carving Contest made reference to the agency's plans to explore Europe, the ocean-carrying moon of Jupiter.

This participant in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2018 Pumpkin Carving Contest made reference to the agency's plans to explore Europe, the ocean-carrying moon of Jupiter.

Credit: J. Krohn / JPL-Caltech / NASA

This quote refers to the famous series of sci-fi novels "Space Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clarke, in which a ship of exploration receives this mysterious warning (a very similar version of it) .

There were many more entrances, some of which boasted of movement and mechanization. You can have a lot of eyes in this gallery Flickr JPL, which also offers videos.

Editor's note: If you would like to share a great Halloween costume related to the space you would like to share with Space.com, send pictures and comments to editor Tariq Malik, at the address spacephotos @ space .com.

Mike Wall's book on the quest for extraterrestrial life, "Out There," will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally posted on Space.com.

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