Pennant Winner

Earlier this year, KOL, NASA and Mad Science sponsored the Space Pennant Design Challenge. We received more than 1,000 entries, and 11-year-old Tapasya Das of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, came up with the winning pennant design, as voted by you. Her pennant, entitled "Education 4 Exploration," shows a rocket launching from a textbook, symbolizing the educational nature of this Space Shuttle mission and its "Educator Astronaut."

Tapasya describes her winning design: "The pennant shows Earth pictured in a book, and STS-118 is going out to space. The space missions signified by the space craft carry space exploration out of theory into practice. The first teacher who is fully trained as an astronaut is going to space in the STS-118. The teacher is taking the visions of an educator, to look at space research with a new perspective. Also, education from now will approach space missions with a more practical approach, and not just theory in textbooks. Hence, futuristically, it will forever be education for exploration."

As the Grand Prize winner, Tapasya will get the thrill of knowing her winning pennant will fly into space aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor with Educator in Space Barbara Morgan. NASA's Kennedy Space Center will also host Tapasya and her family, where they will all witness the Endeavor launch firsthand.

See Tapasya's winning pennant and the finalist pennants in this picture gallery.