Lake Orion student's art work will fly on NASA's final shuttle mission into space

LAKE ORION, Mich. (WXYZ) - The 134th and final space shuttle mission -- originally scheduled for June 29th -- is now set for February 26th.   When Endeavor launches, it will be bringing a bit of Metro Detroit with it.

One of the crew members is from Oakland County.  Andrew Feustal is a Lake Orion Community Schools graduate.   He will be bringing with him a piece of art from the school district.

The artist is 14-year-old Justin Pavliscak.  The winning art work is an acrylic painting on canvas.

"I was really surprised," said Pavliscak.

"It's an astronaut that's standing on the moon with a flag kind of representing when they put the flag on the moon,"  described Pavliscak.

The upcoming freshman painted the picture this past year in his 8th grade art class at Scripps Middle School.

"Someone came and picked it up from school.  It had to be weighed with NASA because of all of the specifications and things like that," explained Pavliscak.

His art teacher Jerry Brazeau proudly displays a copy of the winning painting in the school's hallway.

"I really like the detail in the astronaut -- the reflections, the highlights, the shadows.  You can tell he spent a lot of time on the astronaut," said Brazeau.

The flag depicted on the moon sports an "L" and an "O" for Lake Orion.

"I thought that was appropriate.  I thought that was great," smiled Brazeau.

Justin's parents are so proud their son's creation will be carried up on NASA's final shuttle mission.

"We're even considering if the timing works out right to go see either the launch of the space shuttle, flying down to Florida, or for sure trying to actually go view it when it's at the museum on its return," said Justin's father Steve Pavliscak.

For Justin, being a part of aerospace history is an out-of-this-world experience.

He said it's exciting "to say one day that a piece of my art work went into outer space."

The launch of Endeavour is set for 4:04 p.m. EST on February 26, 2011.  The 10-day mission will deliver spare parts and other vital equipment to the International Space Station.

Justin's painting will be brought on board the ISS, then brought back down to earth.  It will be featured in a NASA exhibit about this final shuttle mission.  Then it will be returned to Justin.

If you'd like to find out more about the mission, you can click on www.nasa.gov.