More Than 800 Entries Submitted From 40 States And Puerto Rico

Because the oldest among all of NASA's facilities is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, invited K-12 students from across the country to submit artwork for a contest to celebrate the centennial.

The goal of the "A Storied Legacy, A Soaring Future" contest was to illustrate how NASA research and innovation propels science toward discoveries that help generate opportunities, technologies and ways to understand and protect our home planet.

More than 800 entries were submitted from 40 states and Puerto Rico. The artwork was judged on originality, interpretation of subject matter and theme, creative techniques, composition, and overall art appearance.

The Top Winners

Apoorva Panidapu, a sixth grader from Evergreen, California, was named grand-prize winner of NASA Langley's Centennial Student Art Contest. Alaura Knoop, an eighth grader from Virginia Beach, Virginia, was named grand-prize runner-up.

"I am really grateful to be a part of this memorable milestone and the grand centennial celebration," Apoorva said.

Said Alaura: "As an eighth-grade artist, I have been focusing all my artwork and attention on my one true passion – space."

Apoorva and Alaura received certificates for their wins, and a NASA Exploration package including posters, pens, stickers, patches and lapel pins. Their art will be publicly displayed at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia, and at a public NASA Langley centennial exhibit at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia, that runs from April 8 through June 25.

(Image provided by NASA)

FMI: https://artcontest.larc.nasa.gov, www.nasa.gov/langley/100