NASA JPL Engineers Compete in Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

Once a year at Halloween, hardworking JPL engineers put their skills to the test in a highly competitive pumpkin carving contest. The result: A pumpkin gently landed on the Moon, its retrorockets smoldering, while across the room a Nemo-inspired pumpkin explored the sub-surface ocean of Jupiter moon Europa. Suffice to say that when the scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory compete in a pumpkin-carving contest, the solar system's the limit. Take a look at some of the masterpieces from 2019. Now in its ninth year, the contest gives teams only one hour to carve and decorate their pumpkin though they can prepare non-pumpkin materials - like backgrounds, sound effects and motorized parts - ahead of time.