A professional sand sculptor paid tribute to this week's historic NASA Artemis I launch Wednesday morning.

Janel Hawkins is the owner of Sand Castle University, where she teaches people how to sculpt.

She says her boyfriend, Caleb Windham, is the Artemis Boeing production manager based at Kennedy Space Center. His work on the program inspired her to create an Artemis rocket sculpture that was on display at the Flagler Lane beach access in Cocoa Beach.

"People staying here said it fell down as the rocket was launching, so I thought that was very fitting, so I think that's very cool," Hawkins said. "If there's a time for a rocket sand sculpture to fall, it's during the actual rocket launch."

​Hawkins said she watched the launch, which was her first, from the Kennedy Space Center.