{"id":267532,"date":"2026-05-12T03:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/267532\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T03:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:40:17","slug":"apollo-beach-to-the-stars-third-graders-artwork-heads-to-the-international-space-station-on-spacex-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/267532\/","title":{"rendered":"Apollo Beach to the stars: Third grader’s artwork heads to the International Space Station on SpaceX mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Third Third grader’s art embarks on a space mission<\/a> <\/p>\n

Eeshan Kallu, a third grade student at Dorothy C. York Innovation Academy, won a district-wide competition for Hillsborough County, blending his passions for science and art. FOX 13’s Mark Wilson reports.<\/p>\n

APOLLO BEACH, Fla. – Eeshan Kallu isn’t your average third grader.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While his classmates at Dorothy C. York Innovation Academy in Apollo Beach<\/a> are busy building homemade solar stoves to learn<\/a> about radiant energy, Kallu is preparing for a “field trip” that is literally out of this world.<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

As part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Mission 21, Kallu entered a competition to design an official mission patch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Art is, like, one of my favorite subjects, and science<\/a> is also one of my favorite subjects,” Kallu explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kallu’s teacher, Darcy Lane, noticed his dual passion early on, noting that he frequently draws constellations and remains one of her most curious students.<\/p>\n

The winning design <\/p>\n

Kallu’s winning design features an astronaut and a rocket floating freely against a backdrop of the moon and stars \u2014 a visual representation of the freedom of microgravity.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“So first, I started with, like, an astronaut, a rocket, and in the background I did the stars, the moon,” Kallu explained. “They all represent space, but like the things that actually represent microgravity, there was the astronaut and the rocket floating freely.”<\/p>\n

Scientific curiosity\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Kallu is left with some scientific questions of his own about his patch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kallu wonders if the thickness of the paper or the vibrancy of the colors will change after being exposed to the environment of the ISS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether the ink fades or the texture shifts, one thing is certain: Kallu will soon hold a piece of history in his hands.<\/p>\n

The SSEP Mission 21 isn’t just about art; it’s a massive logistical undertaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The patches must meet strict physical requirements to fly \u2014 typically 3.5-inch by 3.5-inch squares of paper.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The International Space Station, seen from orbit (NASA photo) <\/p>\n

Once Kallu\u2019s artwork reaches the International Space Station, it will spend approximately four to six weeks in orbit.<\/p>\n

When it returns to Earth, it won’t just be a drawing anymore; it will be returned to Kallu with an official certificate embossed on it, proving it traveled through the vacuum of space.<\/p>\n

“Like, it’s just going to feel very exciting, like happy and joyful for me,” Kallu said. “Like, it’s just a big event that’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n

Kallu wasn’t the only winner in the Bay Area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Kallu took the top prize for the Hillsborough County elementary division, Maddox Sewell from Turkey Creek Middle School also secured a win for the 6th through 8th grade competition.<\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

These local designs are part of a larger initiative to engage hundreds of students in “STEAM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), proving that you don’t have to be an astronaut to have a hand in space exploration.<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

Kallu\u2019s artwork will be packed into a SpaceX vehicle and launched from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: FOX 13 gathered the information for this story from the third-grader who won the competition and his teacher.<\/p>\n

What’s Right with Tampa Bay<\/a>Space<\/a>Education<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Third grader’s art embarks on a space mission Eeshan Kallu, a third grade student at Dorothy C. York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[29273,113,115,554,405,1769,202,204,203,199,201,200,3970],"class_list":["post-267532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-air-space","tag-education","tag-news","tag-science","tag-series","tag-space","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-whats-right-with-tampa-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}