These Space Pumpkins from NASA JPL's 2019 Carving Contest are Just EPIC!

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Apollo moon pumpkins? YES!

Pumpkins and Halloween go together like peanut butter and jelly, but when NASA folks carve jack-o-lanterns, the results are (wait for it) out of this world. 

Each year, the scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mechanical Engineering section in Pasadena, California hold what just might be the nerdiest Halloween pumpkin contest on Earth. And, yes, it's awesome.

An Apollo 11 pumpkin lander approaches the moon in this entry in the 2019 pumpkin carving contest at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It was one of many space-themed pumpkins this year. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

This year's pumpkin crop (see what I did there?) includes Apollo moon lander pumpkins, alien gourds, an interactive Europa lander pumpkin and so much more. Take a look at the NASA pumpkin displays here courtesy of Aaron Yazzie, a mechanical engineer working on the Mars 2020 rover at JPL. who shared these works of Halloween art on Twitter.

Related: How to Carve a James Webb Space Telescope Pumpkin
More Astropumpkins: Space Halloween Pumpkins a Cosmic Treat (Photos)

Want more? Check out this gallery from NASA's 2018 pumpkin carving contest!

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.