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By NASA
NASA Glenn Research Center High School Engineering Institute participants, left to right: Evan Ricchetti, Edan Liahovetsky, and Doris Chen, prepare to add weights to their rover to test the effectiveness of their wheel grouser designs on Friday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis This summer, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland hosted the NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute, a free, work-based learning experience designed to prepare rising high school juniors and seniors for careers in the aerospace workforce.
“The institute immerses students in NASA’s work, providing essential career readiness tools for future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-focused academic and professional pursuits,” said Jerry Voltz of NASA Glenn’s Office of STEM Engagement.
Throughout the five-day sessions (offered three separate weeks in July), students used authentic NASA mission content and collaborated with Glenn’s technical experts. They gained a deeper understanding of the engineering design process, developed practical engineering solutions to real-world challenges, and tested prototypes to address key mission areas such as:
Acoustic dampening: How can we reduce noise pollution from jet engines? Power management and distribution: How can we develop a smart power system for future space stations? Simulated lunar operations: Can we invent tires that don’t use air? NASA Glenn Research Center High School Engineering Institute participants, left to right: Adriana Pudloski, Anadavel Sakthi, Aditya Rohatgi, and Alexa Apshago, make modifications to the control system program for their rover on Friday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Voltz said he hoped students left the program with three key takeaways: a deeper curiosity and excitement for STEM careers, firsthand insight into how cutting-edge technology developed in Cleveland contributes to NASA’s most prominent missions, and most importantly, a feeling of empowerment gained from engaging with some of NASA’s brightest minds in the field.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Courses & Curriculums for… STEM Educators Are Bringing… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
STEM Educators Are Bringing Hands-On NASA Science into Virginia Classrooms
Professional learning experiences are integral to the enhancement of classroom instruction. Teachers, at the forefront of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) education, play a key role in the advancement of STEM learning ecosystems and citizen science.
On June 24-25, 2025 – despite a major east coast heat wave – twenty-four educators from eight school districts in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia (Newport News, Hampton City, Virginia Beach City, Isle of Wight County, Poquoson City, Norfolk, York County, and Suffolk Public Schools) converged at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Hampton, VA for a professional development workshop led by experts from NASA Langley Research Center and the NASA Science Activation program’s NIA-led NASA eClips team. Developed in collaboration with another NASA Science Activation team, GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Mission Earth, and with support from the Coastal Virginia STEM Hub (COVA STEM) – a “STEM learning ecosystem targeting pre-K to adult residents in Coastal Virginia” – this two-day training, also provided comprehensive resources, including lesson plans, pacing guides, classroom activities, and books, all designed for integration into Hampton Roads classrooms.
The NASA Langley team led workshop participants through a training about GLOBE, a program dedicated to advancing Earth System science through data collected by volunteer members of the public, also known as ‘citizen scientists’. GLOBE invites educators, students, and members of the public worldwide (regardless of citizenship) to collect and submit cloud, surface temperature, and land cover observations using the GLOBE Observer app – a real-time data collection tool available right on their smartphones. These observations are then used to help address scientific questions at local, regional, and global scales. Through this training, the educators participated in K-20 classroom-friendly sample lessons, hands-on activities, and exploring the GLOBE Observer app, ultimately qualifying them as GLOBE Certified Educators. Earth System science lessons, activities, and information on how to download the GLOBE Observer citizen science app are available on the GLOBE website. Similarly, NASA eClips, which focuses on increasing STEM literacy in K-12 students, provided educators with free, valuable, standards-based classroom resources such as educator guides, informational videos, engineering design packets, and hands-on activities, which are available to educators and students alike on the NASA eClips’ website. Throughout the training, educators collaborated in grade-level groups, brainstorming new ways to integrate these standards-based NASA science resources.
One educator envisioned incorporating GLOBE’s cloud resources and supportive NASA eClips videos into her energy budget unit. Others explored modifying a heat-lamp experiment to include humidity and heat capacity. One teacher enthusiastically noted in response to a GLOBE urban heat island lesson plan, “The hands-on elements are going to be really great deliverables!” The creative energy and passion for education were palpable.
The dedication of both NIA and NASA Langley to education and local community support was evident. This professional learning experience offered educators immediately-applicable classroom activities and fostered connections among NASA science, NASA eClips, the GLOBE Program, and fellow educators across district lines. One educator highlighted the value of these networking opportunities, stating, “I do love that we’re able to collaborate with our colleagues so we can plan for our future units during the school year”. Another participant commented, “This is a great program…I am going to start embedding [this] in our curriculum.”
GME (supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC54A) and NASA eClips (supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB91A) are part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
GLOBE educator Marilé Colón Robles demonstrates a kinesthetic activity. Share
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Last Updated Aug 04, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Location NASA Langley Research Center Related Terms
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NASA eClips STEM Student Ambassadors Light Up CNU’s 2025 STEM Community Day
More than 2,000 curious visitors from Newport News and the surrounding Hampton Roads region of Virginia flocked to Christopher Newport University (CNU) on May 31, 2025 for their annual STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) Community Day, and the NASA eClips team from the National Institute of Aerospace’s Center for Integrative STEM Education (NIA-CISE) made sure every one of them left with their eyes—and imaginations—fixed on the Sun.
At the heart of the NASA eClips exhibit were NIA’s STEM Student Ambassadors—a team of carefully selected high school students from the Tidewater region of Virginia who underwent extensive training with NASA eClips educators during the summer of 2024. These bright, enthusiastic young leaders are passionate about communicating about and advocating for STEM. The STEM Student Ambassador program is made possible through a Coastal Virginia STEM Hub grant from the Virginia General Assembly and is already having an impact.
Throughout the day, the Ambassadors engaged learners of all ages with two creative, hands-on experiences that connected STEM and the arts:
Chalk Corona – Using black construction paper and vibrant chalk, participants recreated the Sun’s corona—the super-hot, gaseous “crown” that’s visible during a total solar eclipse. While they shaded and smudged, the Ambassadors explained why the corona is so important to solar research and handed out certified solar viewers for safe Sun-watching back home. Pastel Auroras – Visitors also discovered how solar wind, storms, and coronal mass ejections (aka Sun “sneezes”) spark Earth’s dazzling auroras. Guided by the Ambassadors, budding artists layered pastels to capture swirling curtains of light, tying recent mid-Atlantic aurora sightings to real-time space weather. Throughout the day, the Ambassadors’ energy was contagious, turning complex heliophysics into hands-on fun and opening eyes to the opportunities and careers that await in STEM. Judging by the smiles—and the dusting of chalk and pastels—NASA eClips’ presence was, quite literally, the “crowning” touch on an unforgettable community celebration of STEM.
The NASA eClips project provides educators with standards-based videos, activities, and lessons to increase STEM literacy through the lens of NASA. It is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB91A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Two STEM Student Ambassadors engage a young girl while she creates her own Pastel Aurora artwork. Share
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Explore This Section Science Science Activation Take a Tour of the Cosmos with… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
Take a Tour of the Cosmos with New Interactives from NASA’s Universe of Learning
Ready for a tour of the cosmos? NASA’s Universe of Learning has released a new, dynamic way for lifelong learners to explore NASA’s breathtaking images of the universe—ViewSpace interactive Image Tours. ViewSpace has an established track record of providing museums, science centers, libraries, and other informal learning environments with free, web-based videos and digital interactives—like its interactive Image Sliders. These new Image Tours are another unique experience from NASA’s Universe of Learning, created through a collaboration between scientists that operate NASA telescopes and experts well-versed in the most modern methods of learning. Hands-on, self-directed learning resources like these have long been valued by informal learning sites as effective means for engaging and intriguing users with the latest discoveries from NASA’s space telescope missions—while encouraging lifelong learners to continue their passionate exploration of the stars, galaxies, and distant worlds.
With these new ViewSpace Image Tours, visitors can take breathtaking journeys through space images that contain many exciting stories. The “Center of the Milky Way Galaxy” Tour, for example, uses breathtaking images from NASA’s Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra X-ray telescopes and includes eleven Tour Stops, where users can interact with areas like “the Brick”—a dense, dark cloud of hydrogen molecules imaged by Spitzer. Another Tour Stop zooms toward the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, offering a dramatic visual journey to the galaxy’s core.
In other tours, like the “Herbig-Haro 46/47” Tour, learners can navigate through points of interest in an observation from a single telescope mission. In this case, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provides the backdrop where lifelong learners can explore superheated jets of gas and dust being ejected at tremendous speeds from a pair of young, forming stars. The power of Webb turns up unexpected details in the background, like a noteworthy distant galaxy famous for its uncanny resemblance to a question mark. Each Interactive Image Tour allows people to examine unique features through videos, images, or graphical overlays to identify how those features have formed in ways that static images alone can’t convey.
These tours, which include detailed visual descriptions for each Tour Stop, illuminate the science behind the beauty, allowing learners of all ages to develop a greater understanding of and excitement for space science, deepening their engagement with astronomy, regardless of their prior experience. Check out the About the Interactives page on the ViewSpace website for a detailed overview of how to use the Image Tours.
ViewSpace currently offers three Image Tours, and the collection will continue growing:
Center of the Milky Way Galaxy:
Peer through cosmic dust and uncover areas of intense activity near the Milky Way’s core, featuring imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Herbig-Haro 46/47:
Witness how a tightly bound pair of young stars shapes their nebula through ejections of gas and dust in an image from the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Whirlpool Galaxy:
Explore the iconic swirling arms and glowing core of a stunning spiral galaxy, with insights into star formation, galaxy structure, and more in a Hubble Space Telescope image.
“The Image Tours are beautiful, dramatic, informational, and easy to use,” explained Sari Custer, Chief of Science and Curiosity at Arizona Science Center. “I’m excited to implement them in my museum not only because of the incredible images and user-friendly features, but also for the opportunity to excite and ignite the public’s curiosity about space.”
NASA’s Universe of Learning is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/
Select views from various Image Tours. Clockwise from top left: The Whirlpool Galaxy, Center of the Milky Way Galaxy, Herbig-Haro 46/47, detail view in the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Share
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3 Min Read NASA Invests in Future STEM Workforce Through Space Grant Awards
NASA is awarding up to $870,000 annually to 52 institutions across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico over the next four years. The investments aim to create opportunities for the next generation of innovators by supporting workforce development, science, technology, engineering and math education, and aerospace collaboration nationwide.
The Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant), established by Congress in 1989, is a workforce development initiative administered through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). The program’s mission is to produce a highly skilled workforce prepared to advance NASA’s mission and bolster the nation’s aerospace sector.
“The Space Grant program exemplifies NASA’s commitment to cultivating a new generation of STEM leaders,” said Torry Johnson, deputy associate administrator of the STEM Engagement Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By partnering with institutions across the country, we ensure that students have the resources, mentorship, and experiences needed to thrive in the aerospace workforce.”
The following is a complete list of awardees:
University of Alaska, Fairbanks University of Alabama, Huntsville University of Arkansas, Little Rock University of Arizona University of California, San Diego University of Colorado, Boulder University of Hartford, Connecticut American University, Washington, DC University of Delaware University of Central Florida Georgia Institute of Technology University of Hawaii, Honolulu Iowa State University, Ames University of Idaho, Moscow University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Purdue University, Indiana Wichita State University, Kansas University of Kentucky, Lexington Louisiana State University and A&M College Massachusetts Institute of Technology Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Maine Space Grant Consortium University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of Minnesota Missouri University of Science and Technology University of Mississippi Montana State University, Bozeman North Carolina State University University of North Dakota, Grand Forks University of Nebraska, Omaha University of New Hampshire, Durham Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey New Mexico State University Nevada System of Higher Education Cornell University, New York Ohio Aerospace Institute University of Oklahoma Oregon State University Pennsylvania State University University of Puerto Rico Brown University, Rhode Island College of Charleston, South Carolina South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Vanderbilt University, Tennessee University of Texas, Austin University of Utah, Salt Lake City Old Dominion University Research Foundation, Virginia University of Vermont, Burlington University of Washington, Seattle Carthage College, Wisconsin West Virginia University University of Wyoming Space Grant operates through state-based consortia, which include universities, university systems, associations, government agencies, industries, and informal education organizations engaged in aerospace activities. Each consortium’s lead institution coordinates efforts within its state, expanding opportunities for students and researchers while promoting collaboration with NASA and aerospace-related industries nationwide.
To learn more about NASA’s missions, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/
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