Europa Project – 2012

Europa Project Lander_Prototype 1 also explores the idea of beauty in form. When I was an undergraduate student, I wondered, 'Why is Apollo 11 so beautiful?' Even though its design wasn’t focused on aesthetics, the rocket itself is undeniably striking. I still don’t know the exact reason. This question also played a role in shaping this work.

In this project, I designed a landing device solely to ensure a safe touchdown and maintain stability on Europa. To achieve this, I considered the planet’s composition of ice and water and researched design references for artificial satellites.

As part of this process, I built a full-scale landing gear for the Europa lander. By presenting it at actual size, I intended to help viewers infer the overall dimensions of the lander. Additionally, constructing a physical model allowed me to identify and address certain design issues.