Students’ Mural to Be Unveiled at Kennedy Space Center

Student painters from an Eastside academy will watch NASA officials unveil their mural today at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The artists are part of the “Mars Mural Project,” an educational outreach program by NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Academia de Arte Yepes, the nonprofit art academy that they attend.

Seven students, ages 11 to 17, met with scientists over the last six months to create an accurate depiction of Mars and the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which begins its mission to Mars on Wednesday.

The students’ trip to Florida is being funded by money raised by George Yepes, the local artist who runs the East Los Angeles art academy.

“It’s exciting to work on a project that’s part of a historic launching,” said Gabriel Estrada, 14, one of three students attending the event. “I’m learning more about the planets, satellites. . . . I’ve never worked on a project so big.”

Chieck Diarra, the program manager, said he was so impressed with a commemorative space mural the students painted last year that he commissioned a 12-foot by 20-foot artwork. The mural, titled “Mars: Leading Students of the New Millennium,” will be on display at the visitor’s center at the Kennedy Space Center through December.