STELLA: Bringing Satellite Science to Students and Sparking Civic Action

The Landsat satellite program plays a vital role in observing Earth’s surface, delivering critical data on crop health, melting Arctic pools, natural disasters, and more to stakeholders worldwide. To help students connect with these technologies and inspire data-driven action, NASA Instrument Systems Engineer Paul Mirel and the NASA Landsat Outreach Team developed the Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment (STELLA) instrument. Designed to replicate key features of Landsat’s spectrometers, STELLA offers a hands-on, affordable tool for STEM education, bringing remote sensing to the classroom through authentic inquiry, data analysis, and discovery. By integrating STELLA into STEAM learning environments, educators can promote STEAM-centered making, empowering students to investigate community-based challenges such as vegetation health, surface temperature, and air quality. These explorations not only foster scientific literacy but also support civic engagement and policy awareness. In this session, we will showcase three STEAM activities addressing urban heat islands, air quality, and local vegetation health.