Ghouls and Gourds! Awesome Photos from NASA JPL's 2018 Pumpkin-Carving Contest

News
By published

Audience Participation

J. Krohn/JPL-Caltech/NASA

For the entry from the Dynamics & Structures group, passersby can aim to "Meet the Shock Spec" on this spacecraft pumpkin.

Honoring History

J. Krohn/JPL-Caltech/NASA

In an homage to David Bowie, this entry featured The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Starshade and the Tensegrity Spiders from Mars.

To the Death?

J. Krohn/JPL-Caltech/NASA

At the Pumpkin Bot Battle, spectators witnessed the battle of two remote-controlled pumpkin bots.

Creation Processes

J. Krohn/JPL-Caltech/NASA

Teams worked at full-steam-ahead to get their submissions ready for the competition.

A Lot of Work

J. Krohn/JPL-Caltech/NASA

The team from The Planetary Sample Acquisition continued work on their submission, doing their best to perfect the entry. According to @io9, this year's competition "brought some of the nerdiest entries in the contest's history."

Bringing All the Skills

J. Krohn/JPL-Caltech/NASA

Teams employed power tools, motors, paint, saws, lights, electricity and more to bring their dreams to life for the JPL 2018 Pumpkin-Carving Contest.

Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.