Local High School Artists' Winning Designs of Two Mission Patches Will Soon Travel to Outer Space With CCAC Student Research Experiment
Local students Joey Clark and Angelina Kinest unveiled their winning space mission patch designs at a recent presentation hosted by Parkway West Career & Technology Center. Pictured left to right: Joey Clark, Parkway West CTC instructor Betsy Zelina and Angelina Kinest.
Parkway West Career & Technology Center (CTC) hosted a presentation by the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) on Tuesday, April 4, to acknowledge the center's two Graphic Arts & Production Technology students who were selected as winners in a competition sponsored by the CCAC Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) team.
High school students Joey Clark, from Montour High School, and Angelina Kinest, from Moon Area High School, designed the art for the two mission patches, which will accompany a CCAC student research experiment set to launch into space later this year. Both students are juniors at their respective high schools. At Parkway West CTC, Joey is a second-year Graphic Arts & Production Technology student and Angelina is a third-year Graphic Arts & Production Technology student.
As part of the SSEP competition, CCAC students Justin Gomes and Daniel Roth developed an experiment titled "Microgravity's Effects on the Activation of Dormant Metastatic Cancers." A national panel of experts selected the experiment to be sent to the International Space Station, where a team of astronauts will conduct the experiment in space, then bring the results back to Earth for harvesting and analysis.
In Angelina Kinest's design, a NASA space shuttle flies across a starry sky through a lavender ribbon, which symbolizes support for those living with all types of cancer.
In Joey Clark's design, a microscope frames a sky of stars that merge into the research project’s cell specimens.
According to NASA, mission patches are emblems designed for astronauts and people affiliated with a mission. Every expedition to the International Space Station has a unique patch, which depicts an image associated with the mission. Mission patches have been worn by NASA astronauts since 1965.
The winning mission patch designs were selected from more than 200 entries submitted by local high school students. The entries were judged by local space experts; CCAC SSEP coordinator Dr. Justin Starr, CCAC endowed professor of advanced technologies; and the SSEP student-mentor team.