STELLA News
Find out what STELLA’s up to!
Latest News
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 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.
STELLA-1.2 Official Launch: Earth Science Workforce Development
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.
Read More >>
NASA Acres Supports STELLA Workshop at American University
NASA's Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment (STELLA) initiative organized a hands-on workshop for middle and high school teachers at American University focused on advancing remote sensing skills and STEM workforce development.
Read More >>
Building Tomorrow’s Earth Science Workforce, One Spectrum at a Time
COASTWISE (Community Observations and Analysis using Spectroscopic Techniques and Wetlands Imaging to foster Stewardship of the Environment) -making Earth observation science accessible for twenty students are building spectrometers, collecting data from wetland plants, and discovering a career landscape they never knew existed.
Read More >>
University of Toledo Students to Launch NASA-Inspired Satellite to Monitor Lake Erie Algal Blooms
University of Toledo graduate and undergraduate students who are part of the Mission EARTH NASA Science Activation funded project, in collaboration with three high schools, are preparing to launch a satellite into space as part of the Dream Big Project, an initiative funded through Near Space Launch and the Don Wood Foundation.
Read More >>
Students Build AI-Powered Drone for Earth Observation | NASA SEES Internship Journey
Four high school students leveraged STELLA's accessible design, supportive community, and educational philosophy to build a sophisticated environmental monitoring platform.
Read More >>
From Orbit to Earth: Agricultural Workforce Development using Real-Time Spectrometry
At Garden City Community College in Kansas, Assistant Professor Elisa Mai integrated STELLA spectrometers into her Technology in Agriculture course during fall 2025.
Read More >>
NASA SEES Students Showcase EarthLens-STELLA Integration at AGU 2025
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, demonstrating exceptional technical achievement in developing a drone-and-app system that addresses limitations in existing citizen science tools.
Read More >>
STELLA Paper Published on STELLA Technology’s Impact on Remote Sensing Access and Workforce Development
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.
Read More >>
STELLA at AGU 2025 MacGyver Session
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.
Read More >>
Garden City Community College Completes Pilot Course with NASA Acres
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.
Read More >>
STELLA at AGU 2025 Education Session
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.
Read More >>
AAES Brings NASA’s STELLA Remote Sensing to Virginia’s Eastern Shore
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.
Read More >>
Petya in the Field
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.
Read More >>
Student Voices: Real Engineering Success with STELLA Instruments
When Inna and Alexa first encountered NASA's STELLA instruments, neither expected the transformative journey ahead—from intimidation to innovation in just 10 weeks.
Read More >>
“Radiation Shielding and UV Protection” – Environmental Control
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?
Read More >>
“The Golden Pathos Theory” – Single Plant Testing
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.
Read More >>
Inna Shapovalenko and Alexa Matson: Open-Source Engineering for the Future STEM Workforce
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.
Read More >>
Helio-STELLA: Bridging Space Science and Education
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.
Read More >>
STELLA-1.2 Official Launch: Earth Science Workforce Development
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.
Read More >>
NASA Acres Supports STELLA Workshop at American University
NASA's Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment (STELLA) initiative organized a hands-on workshop for middle and high school teachers at American University focused on advancing remote sensing skills and STEM workforce development.
Read More >>
Building Tomorrow’s Earth Science Workforce, One Spectrum at a Time
COASTWISE (Community Observations and Analysis using Spectroscopic Techniques and Wetlands Imaging to foster Stewardship of the Environment) -making Earth observation science accessible for twenty students are building spectrometers, collecting data from wetland plants, and discovering a career landscape they never knew existed.
Read More >>
University of Toledo Students to Launch NASA-Inspired Satellite to Monitor Lake Erie Algal Blooms
University of Toledo graduate and undergraduate students who are part of the Mission EARTH NASA Science Activation funded project, in collaboration with three high schools, are preparing to launch a satellite into space as part of the Dream Big Project, an initiative funded through Near Space Launch and the Don Wood Foundation.
Read More >>
Students Build AI-Powered Drone for Earth Observation | NASA SEES Internship Journey
Four high school students leveraged STELLA's accessible design, supportive community, and educational philosophy to build a sophisticated environmental monitoring platform.
Read More >>
From Orbit to Earth: Agricultural Workforce Development using Real-Time Spectrometry
At Garden City Community College in Kansas, Assistant Professor Elisa Mai integrated STELLA spectrometers into her Technology in Agriculture course during fall 2025.
Read More >>
NASA SEES Students Showcase EarthLens-STELLA Integration at AGU 2025
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, demonstrating exceptional technical achievement in developing a drone-and-app system that addresses limitations in existing citizen science tools.
Read More >>
STELLA Paper Published on STELLA Technology’s Impact on Remote Sensing Access and Workforce Development
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.
Read More >>
STELLA at AGU 2025 MacGyver Session
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.
Read More >>
Garden City Community College Completes Pilot Course with NASA Acres
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.
Read More >>
STELLA at AGU 2025 Education Session
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.
Read More >>
AAES Brings NASA’s STELLA Remote Sensing to Virginia’s Eastern Shore
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.
Read More >>
Petya in the Field
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.
Read More >>
Student Voices: Real Engineering Success with STELLA Instruments
When Inna and Alexa first encountered NASA's STELLA instruments, neither expected the transformative journey ahead—from intimidation to innovation in just 10 weeks.
Read More >>
“Radiation Shielding and UV Protection” – Environmental Control
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?
Read More >>
“The Golden Pathos Theory” – Single Plant Testing
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.
Read More >>
Inna Shapovalenko and Alexa Matson: Open-Source Engineering for the Future STEM Workforce
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.
Read More >>
Helio-STELLA: Bridging Space Science and Education
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.
Read More >>
Watch as engineer Paul Mirel breaks down the fascinating engineering principles behind designing the perfect snap-fit clasp for STELLA instruments. What looks like a simple plastic tab is actually a carefully engineered solution using fundamental physics!
The STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) Workshop was held on June 2-3, 2025, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as an educational initiative connecting NASA remote sensing technologies with classroom instruction
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center brought the Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment (STELLA) project to local educators during a specialized workshop at American University’s Don Myers Technology & Innovation Building on Saturday.
On May 20, 2025, NASA hosted a webinar showcasing the STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land and Life Assessment) project featuring Dr. Craig Kohn from Waterford Union High School.
Dr. Jan Eitel and his graduate students John Patrick and Tyler Bland from the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) presented their innovative work using STELLA devices to teach elementary school students about remote sensing and climate science.
To support learning, the Regional Application Center (RAC) team at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will highlight their Earth observation education outreach summer workshop program.
Revolutionary Plant Science: How Students Used NASA STELLA low-cost instruments to ID Plants with Great Accuracy!
The webinar will have a select panel of STELLA users talking about their experiences using STELLA DIY spectrometers. Bianca Cilento, a graduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology, is using STELLA-Q in her studies. Karen Karker from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry used STELLAs in classroom lessons about the EM spectrum. Peder Nelson is a Sr. Instructor at Oregon State University and Science lead for Land Cover in NASA’s GLOBE Observer and has been using STELLA in conjunction with GLOBE observer.
For three days as February leaped into March this year, more than 11,500 people gathered in Houston, Texas, to attend the 2024 Commodity Classic—a massive agriculture conference led by farmers.
Low-cost sensors, such as NASA’s Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment (STELLA), make granular data collection more cost-effective.
Field Comparison ASD and STELLA 8/22/2023 Preliminary Results Created by Dr. Petya Campbell, STELLA Lead Scientist Download STELLA Field Data 8/22/2023 XLSX ASD Reflectance Measurements…
Monitoring biodiversity is an effective way to quantify and assess the impacts of climate change, but methods for doing so can be inaccessible, laborious, or invasive to an ecosystem.
Paige Williams, a PhD Candidate at Virginia Tech, led a lecture series on the Landsat Program for the junior/senior level remote sensing course in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at VT in February.
Students, from eleven different area schools, came to the SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry campus to participate in mini lessons across campus. The Department of Environmental Resources Engineering used the STELLA in a mini lesson on the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
STELLA was used as part of a larger Earth Science lesson with the astronaut candidates (ASCAN) in the summer of 2023.
Introduce students to the concept of spectroscopy and spectral signatures using the STELLA spectrometer.
Deepen students' understanding of how different wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, particularly Near Infrared (NIR), can be used to assess plant health.
Use a STELLA instrument to assess how changing light levels during a solar eclipse affect spectral responses and temperature.
STELLA: An Open-Source DIY Handheld Spectrometer - Amazing Technologies and Capabilities That Contribute to STEAM I Poster
As rising seniors, Sabrina Pillai and Christina Ballagh spent 10 weeks building DIY hand-held instruments—40 of them to be exact. Called STELLA, for Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment, the spectrometer serves as a low-cost Landsat outreach & education tool.
The 50th Anniversary of the EROS Center: Honoring Five Decades of Innovation Through STEM Outreach Activities By Ellie Leydsman McGinty A Prominent Center for Earth…
Paige Williams, a PhD Candidate at Virginia Tech, led a lecture series on the Landsat Program for the junior/senior level remote sensing course in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at VT in February.
Field Measurements of Panels and Grass collected at GSFC on December 21, 2022 Preliminary Results Created by Dr. Petya Campbell, STELLA Lead Scientist Download STELLA…