Lufkin, Bryan. “Origami in Space.” Wired May 2014: 41. Print.
Brigham Young doctoral student, Shannon Zirbel is applying the concept of origami to engineering. Using “compliant mechanism design,” she is working on a prototype so promising that even NASA has caught interest. The concept involves making small, wrapped-up objects designed to unfold later when needed. For example, folded bundles of photovoltaic panels could be stored in rocket cargo holds, then unfurled once in space to support space station energy supply. The possibilities for this prototype are numerous, as it could be applied to several fields. Lufkin notes how medicine could use the device for bodily stents – an undeniably helpful idea. It’s too soon to analyze the accessibility of this project, but it’s a development that deserves to be tracked as the prototype evolves.
