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NASA scientists and engineers at Goddard Space Flight Center, led by Paul Mirel and Mike Taylor, have officially launched STELLA-1.2 (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment), a modular remote sensing platform that makes Earth observation science more approachable while building the next generation of mission-literate professionals.
NASA STEM Enhancement in Earth Sciences (SEES) interns Nandini Khaneja, Neev Tamboli, Samuel Bawden, and Jordan Rodriguez, part of the SEES Earth System Explorers Team sponsored by NESEC and the Institute for Global Strategies presented their innovative EarthLens project at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2025, demonstrating exceptional technical achievement in developing a drone-and-app system that addresses limitations in existing citizen science tools.
NASA scientists and engineers, in collaboration with university researchers, have developed low‐cost lightweight remote sensing instruments that anyone can build and use to bring remote sensing science to communities beyond traditional professional scientists.
The poster demonstrated how NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientists have created affordable (~$200) instruments that teach the same fundamental remote sensing principles used in advanced satellites.
Garden City Community College (GCCC) in Garden City, Kansas has successfully concluded the first offering of Technology in Agriculture (AGRO-111), a course developed in collaboration with NASA Acres and Kansas State University and launched in Fall 2025.
The poster showcased how this cross-sector collaboration has successfully co-designed affordable DIY instruments (~$200/unit) that enable students to collect data similar to NASA satellites while developing workforce-relevant technical skills.
The Aerospace Academy of the Eastern Shore (AAES)—a STEM-focused lab school led by Old Dominion University is expanding hands-on aerospace learning through remote sensing using NASA’s STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) instruments.
Garden City Community College (GCCC) in Garden City, Kansas has successfully concluded the first offering of Technology in Agriculture (AGRO-111), a course developed in collaboration with NASA Acres and Kansas State University and launched in Fall 2025.
The poster showcased how this cross-sector collaboration has successfully co-designed affordable DIY instruments (~$200/unit) that enable students to collect data similar to NASA satellites while developing workforce-relevant technical skills.
The Aerospace Academy of the Eastern Shore (AAES)—a STEM-focused lab school led by Old Dominion University is expanding hands-on aerospace learning through remote sensing using NASA’s STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) instruments.
Watch Dr. Petya Campbell, a NASA Goddard research scientist with over 20 years of field experience, demonstrate how ground-based STELLA spectrometer measurements directly support NASA satellite missions by validating Earth observation data.
When Inna and Alexa first encountered NASA's STELLA instruments, neither expected the transformative journey ahead—from intimidation to innovation in just 10 weeks.
Students use Helio-STELLA to design lightweight radiation shields for Mars habitats, testing aluminum, water, and fabric barriers. Which materials block harmful UV while allowing light for plants to grow?
Students test common houseplants as space life-support systems using STELLA-Q2 sensors to measure CO2 consumption. With safe, affordable materials, they determine which plants produce the most oxygen for future Mars habitats.
Inna Shapovalenko and Alexa Matson's collaborative journey with the STELLA project showcases how open-source engineering provides students with real-world skills through hardware design, software development, and community-driven innovation.
Dr. Gerald Knezek and Dr. Fred McMahan share their experiences developing and implementing Helio-STELLA, a low-cost solar monitoring device designed for educational settings.
The culmination of Bianca's calibration work may be a research paper that establishes STELLA's credibility as a scientific instrument rather than just an educational tool.