Scientists couldn't view exoplanets efficiently because some exoplanets orbit very bright stars, creating a glare on the exoplanet. This glare creates  blur on the exoplanets making it harder for scientists to study the planets effecirntly as the lights takes way detailes such as the colour, texture whether it is a gas planets, a rocky planet and ect. Now, because of origami inpired structures in space, scientists can view exoplanets easily and research them.

We got the idea for the science fair from a video our teacher showed us in class. The video was a news video telling the audience about the starshade and its origami structure. We researched more on the internet and found a few videos and websites that gave us more information.

  Our research is about how origami can expand and help engineers create more expandale and retractable projects for space. We researched about origami's principles and expandable folds. We made origami replicas of the starshade and transfered the lines to a bigger sheet of paper in order to creat and even bigger replica of the star shade. We also researched about the James Webb telescope, a space craft that has also used origami as structural incormation. Additionally we also researched about exoplanets and the ways scientists discover them.  

The Origami Starshade is a key tool for the search of earth like planets and exoplanet research. The Shade will allow us to study other worlds outside our solar system, circling other stars, to eventually help us with future space telescope missions. From this research project, we learned how much origami can really inspire structural designs. Its use of compressible, expandable, and retractable folding principles can have great impacts to the ways structures are engineered and designed. Architects and engineers have discovered great uses for origami in structures. They believe that it creates advanced solutions by using its geometric folds to adapt structures for top compact efficiency. 

 

In conclusion, the starshade is an extrordinary technology inspired by the inticate works of origami. In the future, the starshade may be able to help us with the search of unknown exoplanets. Its intricate design structure allows it to stay conveinently compact during launch and then later expand once in space. The designe uses expandable and extractable origami, which allows to unfurel. blocking any unwanted light that prevents us from studying the exoplanets around it. Exoplanets, any planet outside our solar system, hold great mysteries as scientists want to study them for the purpose of finding new life on different planets.

Our most used websites, videos and references are as folloows:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_kasdin_the_flower_shaped_starshade_that_mig

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/what-is-an-exoplanet/overview/

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/what-is-an-exoplanet/in-depth/

https://www.google.com/search?q=exoplanets&sca_esv=598645516&rlz=1C1ON

https://phys.org/news/2017-09-explore-origami-spacecraft.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/learning/origami-in-space-engineering-redisc

overing-the-meaning-of-discohttps://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/space-orig

ami-make-your-own-starshade/#:~:

https://naturalorigami.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/the-miura-ori-fold/

The basic architecture of a starshade mission. The starshade blocks... | Download 

Scientific Diagram (researchgate.net)

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1605/observing-exoplanets-what-can-we-really-see/

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/81/flower-power-nasa-starshade-petal-pro

to

type/#:~:text=The%20flower%2Dshaped%20petals%20are,engineer%20on%20t

he%20starshade%20project.

ht_help_us_detect_earth_like_planets/transcript

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPK9kF2tqfk

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/starshade-would-take-formation-flying-to-extremes

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/2166/origami-starshade/

 

 

 

Our math/science teacher, Miss Sam, assisted us a lot during our time completing the science fair.. If we were confused on a topic, she'd break it down into sections and explain it in-depth for us. When we needed help on picking out concepts, she guided us through, and helped us chose the most impoirtant ones.. When we needed help with specififc words or vocabulary, she explained them for us. We also helped each other with a lot of things, topics, words and everything we could. We supported each other all the way through.