Foldable solar panel array

　　Solar panel devices usually don't consider their appearance too much, but a team from NASA has developed a solar panel device with a rather exquisite appearance. Brian Trease, a mechanical engineer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a research team from Brigham Young University, and Robert Long, an origami expert, jointly developed this prototype device that combines technology and artistic design.

　　The device using this structure in the concept can be folded into a prototype with a diameter of 8.9 feet, and can be expanded to an array of 82 feet after unfolding. As a proof of concept, the team has created a desktop-sized prototype that can be expanded up to 4 feet, which can well demonstrate the folding and expansion methods of the device in the concept.

　　Trease said, "This is a fusion of art, culture and technology." He believes that this solar cell can be deployed in various spacecraft and applied to low-cost satellites. At present, the device is still in the prototype stage, and the direction of the team's development may symbolize the development direction of future aerospace technology equipment-a combination of beautiful shape and practicality.