Folding Space

Dr. Robert J. Lang is one of the foremost origami masters in the world. (Another is Joseph Wu; both men were most heavily influenced by Akira Yoshizawa, the origami legend.) His insectile designs were revolutionary when they hit the international scene, and his handiwork has only increased in popularity and practicality over time. Now, he's working on a space telescope 40 times the size of the Hubble with the Livermore National Laboratory's Diffractive Optics Group. Dr. Lang has been assigned the task of folding a 100-meter lens into a capsule for space payload--a chamber 4 meters wide and 10 meters long. Ben Taylor at Damn Interesting has more details, and an article at Lang's site is even more enlightening.