Expect the Unexpected
Carrie Geisler
November 1st, 2024
Major: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Genre/Medium: Papercraft – Pop-up Card
About the work:
One of the things I love the most about space exploration is that every mission makes new discoveries which are completely unexpected. This project, entitled “Expect the Unexpected,” is a twist and pop card intended to encapsulate the amazing and unexpected discoveries we will make at the Psyche asteroid. From the front of the card, representing the launch, you don’t know what awaits, but once you open it, representing the arrival at the asteroid, stunning surprises jump out. I deliberately chose papers of different colors, textures and weights to give each part of the card an accurate and eye-catching appearance. I also cut detailed shapes out of each paper using my school’s laser cutter and drawing files which I created myself.
On the front of the card, I layered exhaust clouds cut from papers which match the colors of the Psyche logo. I added a 3D effect to the clouds by putting dimensional tape between each layer. Inside, the Psyche spacecraft is attached to the popping mechanism. It folds like an accordion to a fourth of its extended length, and then turns 90 degrees as the card closes, allowing it to lie flat. The solar arrays of the spacecraft are recreated with glittery purple cardstock, which gives a reflective shine analogous to the glass of the solar panels. Behind the spacecraft, on the top and bottom of the card’s interior, is the asteroid surface. I achieved a realistic 3D texture by laser- cutting and stacking paper of different natural and metallic tones.
The most challenging part of my entire project was creating the drawing files to laser-cut the asteroid layers. It took some time to wrap my head around which parts of each layer should be cut out and left behind to create the desired effect when stacked in a certain order. The most exciting part of my project was using a laser cutter for the first time. It was amazing to see how much my artwork can be elevated by access to tools for cutting fine details. I’d like to give a sincere thank you to Al Gaillard from my university who spent several hours sitting with me and showing me how to use the laser cutter.
Download Images (2 MB)
