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How to fold an origami space station

A real project. Snip and pleat two long solar wings, add pleated modules and a docking capsule, a spacewalker on a tether and a round Earth, then stand it all up against a starry sky.

You need: 10 pieces: 24 × 5 cm blue strip, navy A4, then silver, white, gold, light blue and green bits (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, white gel pen.. Challenge, 38 steps, about 75 minutes.

Steps

  1. Solar wings: fold in half. Start with the solar wings: a 24 × 5 cm blue strip, white side up, lying long. Fold the top edge down onto the bottom edge.
  2. Wings: in half. Fold the left end over onto the right end.
  3. Wings: and again. Fold the right end back over onto the left fold.
  4. Wings: once more. Fold the left end over onto the right once more, to a 3 cm stack. Crease hard.
  5. Wings: snip the panels. Snip a small triangle off all four corners of the stack, 4 mm along and 4.5 mm in. Each snip opens into a notch between two panels.
  6. Wings: open it. Unfold the last fold.
  7. Wings: open again. Unfold the next fold.
  8. Wings: open the length. Unfold the next fold too. Keep the long fold closed: the strip stays blue on both sides, now a row of eight panels.
  9. Wings: pleat the hinges. Fold each end in towards the middle, creasing 9 cm out from the centre, right on a notch.
  10. Wings: pleat, back out. Fold each end back out 5 mm nearer the middle. The ledges are the hinges where the long wings fold open in space.
  11. Long module: new sheet. Set the wings aside. For the long module, take a 4 × 9.5 cm silver piece, silver side up, standing tall.
  12. Long module: slim it. Fold both long sides behind, 1 cm each. The module is a 2 cm wide tube.
  13. Long module: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 4 mm along both edges, so the ends of the tube look round.
  14. Core module: new sheet. Set it aside. For the core module, take a 6 × 5.6 cm white piece, lying long.
  15. Core module: edges behind. Fold the top and bottom edges behind, 1.4 cm each, so they meet in the middle at the back.
  16. Core module: pleat. Fold each end in towards the middle, creasing 1.5 cm in from the end.
  17. Core module: pleat, back out. Fold each end back out 5 mm nearer the middle. The ledges are the rings between the module's sections.
  18. Core module: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 4 mm along both edges.
  19. Capsule: new sheet. Set the core aside. For the docking capsule, take a 3 × 2.8 cm gold piece, gold side up.
  20. Capsule: slope the sides. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, from 6 mm in along the top to 7 mm above the bottom corners. A bell-shaped capsule.
  21. Capsule: heat shield. Snip the two bottom corners off on a small slant, so the heat shield at the bottom is rounded.
  22. Earth: new sheet. Set the capsule aside. For Earth, take an 8.6 cm light blue square, blue side up.
  23. Earth: corners behind. Fold each corner behind, creasing from 2.5 cm along one edge to 2.5 cm along the other. You get an octagon.
  24. Earth: round it. Fold all eight new corners behind, just 7 mm each, so Earth is round.
  25. Land: new sheet. Set Earth aside. For the land, take a 3.6 × 3 cm green piece, green side up.
  26. Land: cut a continent. Snip the corners off in big uneven slants: a long one top left, a small one top right, deep ones at the bottom. A lumpy continent.
  27. Spacewalker arms: new sheet. Set the land aside. For the spacewalker's arms, take a 5.2 × 1.8 cm white strip, lying long.
  28. Arms: fold in half. Fold the bottom half behind, the long way. The arms are 9 mm thick.
  29. Arms: round the gloves. Snip all four corners off at both ends, so the gloves are round.
  30. Spacesuit: new sheet. Set the arms aside. For the spacesuit, take a 2.8 × 3.4 cm white piece, standing tall.
  31. Spacesuit: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  32. Spacesuit: cut the legs. Snip a slant up the fold from the bottom, 1.4 cm, between the legs. Round the top open corner; snip the bottom one for a boot.
  33. Spacesuit: open it. Open it out: a puffy spacesuit with two legs.
  34. Helmet: new sheet. Set the suit aside. For the helmet, take a 2.5 cm white square.
  35. Helmet: round it. Fold each corner behind, 7 mm along both edges. The helmet is a round octagon.
  36. Sky: new sheet. Set the helmet aside. Last, deep space: a navy A4 sheet, navy side up, lying long.
  37. Build the station. Glue the wings across the top, the long module up the middle, the core across it and the capsule below. Earth and land bottom left; spacewalker right.
  38. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you at the notch left of the station, and stand the whole space scene up on the table.

Houston, all docked!

Draw grid lines on the solar wings and the station's windows, the visor and a white tether. White gel-pen stars and clouds on Earth.

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