A furled first prototype starshade developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, shown in technology partner Astro Aerospace/Northrup Grumman's facility in Santa Barbara, California, in 2013. This design shows petals that are more extreme in shape, which properly diffracts starlight for smaller telescopes. For launch, the petals of the starshade will be wrapped around the spacecraft, then unfurled into the familiar flower-like design once in space. As shown by this 66-foot (20-meter) model, starshades can come in many shapes and sizes.

Starlight-blocking technologies such as the starshade are being developed to help image exoplanets, with a focus on Earth-sized, habitable worlds. To learn more about these technologies, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6454.