Becky On Mars -
TASK:
The year is 2089. You live in a home for old people on Mars. You wake up in the morning feeling rhapsodic and youthful. You dress up, brush your hair and apply your face cream. You feed Becky, your tri-color Bassett Hound three strawberries and a teaspoon of milk.

You share Becky with your ex who lives in OLD HOME #2. After a long custody battle, you settled out of court and arranged a schedule that makes sense for all three of you. Today is exchange day.

The breakfast menu flashes on your bedroom monitor: PANCAKES

The exchange of Becky takes place at the TERMINAL RELAY STATION which is located halfway between Old Home #1 and Old Home #2.

News:
- The Terminal Relay Station is outside and only 15 feet away.
- The temperature outside is -243°F (-153°C)
- There is a dust storm with 120 mph winds carrying rocks and spatial debris.
- It's pitch dark except for the light from Phobos and Deimos, Mars's two moons.
- You have to be back for Breakfast (you cannot skip even one meal) so you only have 2.5 minutes to do the exchange and come back safely.

Build a small model of a device, machine or contraption that will take you from either OLD HOME #1 or OLD HOME #2 to The TERMINAL RELAY STATION to exchange Becky.

My goal is to build a small nest that I can transport anywhere without needing extra strength.
I experimented with several materials and ultimately settled on this approach:

First, I found a random piece of cardboard and cut it into a circle the same size as my palm (so I can hold Becky withone hand).

Then I tried different sizes of cotton. The white cotton is too soft and scattered to hold together; it cannot bend easily to create a circular wall that resembles the boundaries of the nest. So I used another type of cotton that is soft pink. Itsstructure is very cohesive—long and soft—so I can easily bend it into a circular shape. I used liquid glue to make sure it was as stable as possible.

Then I added some of the white cotton as a little bed in the interior of the nest, so it could be very comfy for Becky to sleep in, like a little bed. As I continued to make it more authentic, I cut a piece of pink fabric into a semi-circle shape so that it fit perfectly over the nest to create a small blanket. I added some decorations on the blanket—small red cotton balls—just to make it look less artificial and more like home, like pepperoni, potentially Becky’s favorite pizza flavor.

Then I shifted my attention to the pillow. I used two red cotton balls, stuck them together, and covered the outside with light green cotton so that it not only looks like a pillow, but also feels like one. (I tried to use clay at first, but the clay would easily get hard, which would deviate from a fluffy pillow.)

Lastly, I added some sharp branches on each edge of the nest to symbolize that I am protecting Becky from the danger/threat that is my ex. I used the tops of bamboo skewers so that one side was pointed and piercing, best resembling natural wild branches. I used liquid glue again to stick them on the cardboard, and used the pointy side of the bamboo skewers (I used colored pencils to color them brown) to go through a little bit of the circular cotton so that they blended together.

Finally, I added a small leafy light to the nest, simply because I find it very hard to make realistic leaves. Clay sometimes does not look good enough to blend with the entire scene. So I chose this leafy light and wrapped it around the nest threetimes. And this is how I finished crafting my nest.