Cape teen's drawing wins her trip to see Venus mission

~ The Venus Express spacecraft will go into orbit around the planet on April 11.

Cape Girardeau 17-year-old Tatianna Cwik loves art. Her dad, Gary, a professor of geoscience at Southeast Missouri State University, has a passion for planetary exploration.

Their loves have come together to give them both the trip of a lifetime -- to view the European Space Agency's unmanned Venus Express mission in the heart of the agency's mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, on April 11.

On Wednesday Tatianna was declared the winner in the Planetary Society and ESA's "Postcards from Venus" competition. She and a family member will get to witness the Venus Express spacecraft go into orbit around the volatile planet. Venus has a surface pressure 90 times that of Earth, clouds of sulfuric acid instead of water vapor and a surface temperature of 900 degrees.

The contest for artistic renderings of the planet received hundreds of entries from more than 40 nations. Out of them Tatianna's was selected as the grand prize winner. Her artwork will be displayed at the Space Operations Centre in Germany during the arrival of Venus Express on its planet of study.

Tatianna, who plans to major in art in college, said she never thought her "Ominous View," a watercolor painting of a large volcano on Venus, would win the prize.

"My dad just kept saying 'Send it in, send it in,' and it's a good thing I did," Tatianna said. "I didn't even expect an honorable mention."

Tatianna was prompted to enter the contest by her father, a member of the Planetary Society. The international society is the world's largest space interest group, founded 25 years ago by scientists such as Carl Sagan.

"I thought it would be a neat father-daughter project," Gary Cwik said. "I was always holding out hope, but I never dreamed in my wildest dreams it would come true."

Tatianna typically doesn't paint landscapes, even of strange planets. Her work is usually more abstract and conceptual.

"I didn't think I'd be good at painting a planet," she said.

The reward trip may be more a dream come true for father than daughter. Gary Cwik says one of his areas of study is space exploration (mother Simin teaches education at Southeast). He suggested Tatianna paint a volcano to capture the harsh conditions on Venus. Volcanoes cover the planet's surface.

Now he'll get to see an ESA mission up close, something he's never done before.

"I win at this, too," said Gary Cwik. "That's right up my alley to visit the European Space Agency headquarters."

Tatianna said the prospects of the trip are "amazing." She's never been to Europe, and looks forward to seeing some new sights.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182