Webb Origami Design Challenge

Background

The James Webb Space Telescope will be NASA's next premier space science observatory and will fulfill the agency's vision to "discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." NASA named the observatory after its second administrator, James E. Webb, who was responsible for NASA retaining an active science program and for helping establish the Apollo program that landed humans on the Moon.

Webb will launch from French Guiana in South America and embark on a historic mission in an orbit nearly a million miles from Earth. Webb will help scientists discover the secrets of the universe and explore our solar system and beyond, expanding the scientific discoveries of NASA's other space observatories (such as Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra).

Webb is designed to look far back in time—over 13.5 billion years—to study an extremely wide range of astrophysical phenomena. Webb will explore all phases of our cosmic history. By observing the infrared light from the first luminous objects that formed in the early universe, Webb will be able to see the evolution of galaxies and the birth of stellar systems. Webb will study objects in our solar system and nearby planets orbiting other stars, known as exoplanets.

Objectives

Your challenge is to create origami artwork (using sheets of paper) that looks like the James Webb Space Telescope and showcases Webb as a technological and design marvel using an “arts-meets-science” approach. Your solution should include a video recording of the product (or photo snapshots) from its inception, through the various stages of development, to completion, and should provide instructions and diagrams. The main focus of this challenge is to showcase the complexity and design of Webb's engineering hardware deployment and its aesthetics. Your design should incorporate educational features, potentially highlighting Webb’s scientific instruments, deployment capabilities, and more.

Potential Considerations

When developing your solution, you may (but are not required to) consider the following:

• Your solution can be competitive or collaborative, and it may involve a single designer or multiple designers.
• Your video recording may be narrated. If the narration is not in English, be sure to include English subtitles.
• While some origami practitioners try to avoid the use of cuts or glue, you may use them for this design challenge.

For data and resources related to this challenge, refer to the Resources tab at the top of the page. More resources may be added before the hackathon begins.

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