'Boo Deng' steals the show at NASA JPL's annual pumpkin carving contest (photos)

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The bright minds at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory never disappoint with the clever creations at the lab's annual pumpkin carving contest.

a baby hippo carved from pumpkins
The "Boo Deng" baby hippo entry in the JPL Pumpkin Carving Contest (Image credit: JPL)

Who says NASA scientists and engineers don’t know how to have fun?!

Every year the fiendishly clever folks at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California hold their annual pumpkin carving contest where brilliant brains concoct all manner of strange and interesting artworks using a fresh supply of seasonal orange squash to deliver some truly fantastic fabrications.

"What do you get when mechanical engineers accustomed to building one-of-a-kind spacecraft turn that focus to pumpkins? JPL's annual pumpkin carving contest!," the lab wrote on its Instagram account.

An entry at JPL's annual pumpkin carving contest for Halloween 2024. (Image credit: jpl)

Witness the crazy creativity of these unique pumpkins in the gallery below, featuring an eerie floating pumpkin teapot pouring liquid into a pumpkin cup, a cute baby hippo pumpkin named "Boo Deng," dedicated engineers concentrating on wiring some sophisticated circuit board component, a giant cheeseburger and fries entry crafted from ripe pumpkins, and even Tweety Bird in a silver-gilded pumpkin cage.

Each participant or team is given only one hour to saw, drill, carve, slice, dice, paint, scoop, and scrape their pumpkins into characters, dioramas, and spacecraft on the JPL patio using their orange-hued vegetables as a starting point. Mechanical and electronics add-ons are allowed to be put together ahead of time. 

An entry at JPL's annual pumpkin carving contest for Halloween 2024. (Image credit: jpl)

This is a fun activity we look forward to seeing each year as it offers a chance for JPL's finest to let their imaginations loose.

Once completed, the incredible pumpkin creations are put on display for scientists, engineers, and technicians to admire the ingenuity and inspiration put into each entry. No final winners were posted at this time but we'll update readers once they're announced.  

Any favorite pumpkins in the posted images?

Jeff Spry
Jeff Spry
Contributing Writer

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.