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By NASA
Dr. Steven “Steve” Platnick stepped down from his role at NASA on August 8, 2025, after more than three decades of public service. Steve began his career at NASA as a physical scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center in 2002. He moved to the Earth Science Division in 2009, where he has served in various senior management roles, including as the Earth Observing System (EOS) Senior Project Scientist. In this role, he led the EOS Project Science Office and continued periodic meetings of the EOS Project Scientists, initiated by Michael King during his tenure. Steve expanded these meetings to include representatives of non-EOS Earth observing missions and representatives from Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO). In addition, Steve was named Deputy Director for Atmospheres in the Earth Science Division in January 2015 and served in this position until July 2024.
Dr. Steve Platnick Image credit: NASA During his time at NASA, Steve played an integral role in the development, sustainability, and advancement of NASA’s Earth Observing System platforms. From January 2003 – February 2010, Steve served as Deputy Project Scientist for Aqua. In this role, he applied his expertise in theoretical and experimental studies of satellite, aircraft, and ground-based cloud remote sensing to improve algorithms to benefit the data gathered from remote observing systems.
Taking the Lead to Improve Algorithms
Steve was actively involved in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Science Team, serving as the MODIS Atmosphere Team Lead. Steve helped advance several key components of the MODIS instrument, which flies on NASA’s Terra and Aqua platforms. He led a team that enhanced, maintained, and evaluated MODIS algorithms that support the Level-2 (L2) Cloud Optical/Microphysical Properties components (e.g., COD06 and MYD06) for MODIS on Terra and Aqua. The algorithms were designed to retrieve thermodynamic phase, optical thickness, effective particle radius, and water path for liquid and ice clouds. The team’s work also contributes to L3 products that address cloud mask, aerosols, clouds, and clear sky radiance for data within 1° grids over one-day, eight-day, and one-month repeat cycles. Under Steve’s leadership, the team also developed L2 products (e.g., MODATML2 and MYDATML2) that include essential atmosphere datasets of samples collected at 5–10 km (3–6 mi) that is consistent with L3 products to ease storage requirements of core atmospheric data.
Steve is also a member of the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Atmosphere Team, working on operational cloud optical and microphysical products. In this role, he contributed to algorithm development and refinement for the Cloud Product. In particular, he helped address a critical gap in the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) spectral channel, which was not designed to collect information for carbon dioxide (CO2) slicing and water vapor data in the same way as MODIS. Steve and his colleagues developed a suite of L2 algorithms for the spectral channels that were common to both MODIS and VIIRS to address cloud mask and cloud optical/microphysical properties. Through these efforts, the project has established a continuous cloud data record gathered from both instruments from 2017 to the present.
Steve also participated in numerous other working groups during the past 30 years. He participated in the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Cloud Assessment Working Group (2008–present), Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) Science Team (2023–present), ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) Earth–Venture Suborbital (EVS)-2 Science Team (2014–2023), Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Science Team (2014–present), Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Science Team (2014–2023), PACE Science Definition Team, Deputy Chair (2011–2012), Glory Science Team (2010–2014) NASA Observations for Modeling Intercomparison Studies (obs4MIPs) Working Group (2011), Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Science Definition Team (2009–2011), and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) R-series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Cloud Team (2005–2009).
Steve has also participated in numerous major airborne field campaigns in various roles, including: GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE, 2025), PACE Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PAX, 2024), the Westcoast & Heartland Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor Intensive Experiment (WH2yMSIE, 2024), ORACLES Science Team (2015–2019), Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) Science Team (2011–2015), Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) Management Team (2007), Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers – Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) Science Management Team (2002), Southern Africa Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI, 2000), First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) (1998), Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST, 1994), and ACE (1992).
Supporting Earth Science Communications
Through his senior leadership roles within ESD Steve has been supportive of the activities of NASA’s Science Support Office (SSO). He has participated in many NASA Science exhibits at both national and international scientific conferences, including serving as a Hyperwall presenter numerous times. He has met with task leaders frequently and has advocated on behalf of the SSO to management at NASA Headquarters, GSFC, and Global Sciences & Technology Inc.
For The Earth Observer newsletter publication team in particular, Steve replaced Michael King as Acting EOS Senior Project Scientist in June 2008, taking over the authorship of “The Editor’s Corner” beginning with the May–June 2008 issue [Volume 20, Issue 3]. The Acting label was removed beginning with the January–February 2010 issue [Volume 22, Issue 1]. Steve has been a champion of continuing to retain a historical record of NASA meetings to maintain a chronology of advances made by different groups within the NASA Earth Science community. He was supportive of the Executive Editor’s efforts to create a series called “Perspectives on EOS,” which ran from 2008–2011 and told the stories of the early years of the EOS Program from the point of view of those who lived them. He also supported the development of articles to commemorate the 25th and 30th anniversary of The Earth Observer. Later, Steve helped guide the transition of the newsletterfrom a print publication – the November–December 2022 issue was the last printed issue – to fully online by July 2024, a few months after the publication’s 35th anniversary. The Earth Observer team will miss Steve’s keen insight, historical perspective, and encouragement that he has shown through his leadership for the past 85 issues of print and online publications.
A Career Recognized through Awards and Honors
Throughout his career, Steve has amassed numerous honors, including the Robert H. Goddard Award for Science: MODIS/VIIRS Cloud Products Science Team (2024) and the William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science in 2023. He received the Verner E. Suomi Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2016 and was named an AMS Fellow that same year.
Steve has received numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards, including for the Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) Field Campaign Team (2020), Fire Influence of Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) Field Campaign Team (2020), ORACLES Field Campaign Team (2019), obs4MIPs Working Group (2015), SEAC4RS Field Campaign Team (2015), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) Instrument Recovery Team (2013), Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Mission Concept Team (2012), Earth Science Constellation Red Team (2011), Science Mission Directorate ARRA Team (2011), TC4 Team (2009), MODIS Science Data Support Team (2007), Aqua Mission Team (2003), CRYSTAL-FACE Science Team (2003), and SAFARI 2000 International Leadership Team (2002).
Steve received two NASA Agency Honor Awards – the Exceptional Service Medal in 2015 and the Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2008. He was also part of the NASA Agency Team Excellence Award in 2017 for his work with the Satellite Needs Assessment Team. The Laboratory for Atmospheres honored him with the Best Senior Author Publication Award in 2001 and the Scientific Research Peer Award in 2005.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively. He earned a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Arizona. He began his career at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) at University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1996 as a research associate professor. He held this appointment until 2002. Steve has published more than 150 scholarly articles.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
An image of Betelgeuse, the yellow-red star, and the signature of its close companion, the faint blue object.Data: NASA/JPL/NOIRlab. Visualization: NOIRLAB. A century-old hypothesis that Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star in our night sky, is orbited by a very close companion star was proved true by a team of astrophysicists led by a scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
The research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in the paper “Probable Direct Imaging Discovery of the Stellar Companion to Betelgeuse.”
Fluctuations in the brightness and measured velocity of Betelgeuse, the closest red supergiant star to Earth, had long presented clues that it may have a partner, but the bigger star’s intense glow made direct observations of any fainter neighbors nearly impossible.
Two recent studies by other teams of astronomers reignited the companion star hypothesis by using more than 100 years of Betelgeuse observations to provide predictions of the companion’s location and brightness.
If the smaller star did exist, the location predictions suggested that scientists had a window of just a few months to observe the companion star at its widest separation from Betelgeuse, as it orbited near the visible edge of the supergiant. After that, they would have to wait another three years for it to orbit to the other side and again leave the overpowering glow of its larger companion.
Searches for the companion were initially made using space-based telescopes, because observing through Earth’s atmosphere can blur images of astronomical objects. But these efforts did not detect the companion.
Steve Howell, a senior research scientist at Ames, recognized the ground-based Gemini North telescope in Hawai’i, one of the largest in the world, paired with a special, high-resolution camera built by NASA, had the potential to directly observe the close companion to Betelgeuse, despite the atmospheric blurring.
Officially called the ‘Alopeke speckle instrument, the advanced imaging camera let them obtain many thousands of short exposures to measure the atmospheric interference in their data and remove it with detailed image processing, providing an image of Betelgeuse and its companion.
Howell’s team detected the very faint companion star right where it was predicted to be, orbiting very close to the outer edge of Betelgeuse.
“I hope our discovery excites other astrophysicists about the robust power of ground-based telescopes and speckle imagers – a key to opening new observational windows,” said Howell. “This can help unlock the great mysteries in our universe.”
To start, this discovery of a close companion to Betelgeuse may explain why other similar red supergiant stars undergo periodic changes in their brightness on the scale of many years.
Howell plans to continue observations of Betelgeuse’s stellar companion to better understand its nature. The companion star will again return to its greatest separation from Betelgeuse in November 2027, a time when it will be easiest to detect.
Having found the long-anticipated companion star, Howell turned to giving it a name. The traditional star name “Betelgeuse” derives from Arabic, meaning “the hand of al-Jawza’,” a female figure in old Arabian legend. Fittingly, Howell’s team named the orbiting companion “Siwarha,” meaning “her bracelet.”
Photo of the constellation Orion, showing the location of Betelgeuse – and its newfound companion star.NOIRLab/Eckhard Slawik The NASA–National Science Foundation Exoplanet Observational Research Program (NN-EXPLORE) is a joint initiative to advance U.S. exoplanet science by providing the community with access to cutting-edge, ground-based observational facilities. Managed by NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program, NN-EXPLORE supports and enhances the scientific return of space missions such as Kepler, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), Hubble Space Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope by enabling essential follow-up observations from the ground—creating strong synergies between space-based discoveries and ground-based characterization. NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program is located at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
To learn more about NN-EXPLORE, visit:
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exep/NNExplore/overview
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Last Updated Jul 23, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
NASA Citizen Science and Your Career: Stories of Exoplanet Watch Volunteers
Doing NASA Science brings many rewards. But can taking part in NASA citizen science help your career? To find out, we asked participants in NASA’s Exoplanet Watch project about their experiences. In this project, amateur astronomers work together with professionals to track planets around other stars.
First, we heard from professional software programmers. Right away, one of them told us about getting a new job through connections made in the project.
“I decided to create the exoplanet plugin, [for citizen science] since it was quite a lot of manual work to check which transits were available for your location. The exoplanet plugin and its users got me in contact with the Stellar group… Through this group, I got into contact with a company called OurSky and started working for them… the point is, I created a couple of plugins for free and eventually got a job at an awesome company.”
Another participant talked about honing their skills and growing their confidence through Exoplanet Watch.
“There were a few years when I wasn’t actively coding. However, Exoplanet Watch rekindled that spark…. Participating in Exoplanet Watch even gave me the confidence to prepare again for a technical interview at Meta—despite having been thoroughly defeated the first time I tried.”
Teachers and teaching faculty told us how Exoplanet Watch gives them the ability to better convey what scientific research is all about – and how the project motivates students!
“Exoplanet Watch makes it easy for undergraduate students to gain experience in data science and Python, which are absolutely necessary for graduate school and many industry jobs.”
“Experience with this collaborative work is a vital piece of the workforce development of our students who are seeking advanced STEM-related careers or ongoing education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) fields after graduation… Exoplanet Watch, in this way, is directly training NASA’s STEM workforce of tomorrow by allowing CUNY (The City University of New York) students to achieve the science goals that would otherwise be much more difficult without its resources.”
One aspiring academic shared how her participation on the science team side of the project has given her research and mentorship experience that strengthens her resume.
“I ended up joining the EpW team to contribute my expertise in stellar variability… My involvement with Exoplanet Watch has provided me with invaluable experience in mentoring a broad range of astronomy enthusiasts and working in a collaborative environment with people from around the world. … Being able to train others, interact in a team environment, and work independently are all critical skills in any work environment, but these specific experiences have also been incredibly valuable towards building my portfolio as I search for faculty positions around the USA.”
There are no guarantees, of course. What you get out of NASA citizen science depends on what you put in. But there is certainly magic to be found in the Exoplanet Watch project. As one student said:
“Help will always be found at Hogwarts, to those who need it.” Exoplanet Watch was definitely Hogwarts for me in my career as an astronomer!”
For more information about NASA and your career, check out NASA’s Surprisingly STEM series highlighting exciting and unexpected jobs at NASA, or come to NASA Career Day, a virtual event for students and educators. Participants must register by September 4, 2025. The interactive platform will be open from September 15-19, with live panels and events taking place on September 18.
Exoplanet Watch volunteer Bryan Martin
Credit: Bryan Martin
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Last Updated Jul 16, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Sylvie Crowell Credit: NASA Sylvie Crowell, a materials researcher at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, has received a NASA Early Career Initiative (ECI) award for a research proposal titled “Lunar Dust Reduction through Electrostatic Adhesion Mitigation (L-DREAM).” The research focuses on developing a passive lunar dust mitigation coating for solar cells and thermal control surfaces.
Operated under the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate, the award will fund Crowell’s research in fiscal year 2026, beginning Oct. 1, 2025.
NASA’s ECI is a unique opportunity for the best and brightest of NASA’s early career researchers to lead hands-on technology development projects. The initiative aims to invigorate NASA’s technological base and best practices by partnering early career NASA leaders with external innovators.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Uncategorized NASA SCoPE Summer Symposium… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
NASA SCoPE Summer Symposium Celebrates Early Career Scientists and Cross-Team Collaboration
From June 16–18, 2025, the NASA Science Mission Directorate Community of Practice for Education (SCoPE) Summer Symposium brought together a community of scientists, educators, and outreach professionals to celebrate and strengthen NASA’s commitment to developing its workforce and broadening participation in science.
NASA SCoPE is a NASA-funded initiative at Arizona State University that connects early career scientists with NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program teams to build capacity in science communication, community engagement, and educational outreach. Through targeted support like Seed Grants, Travel Grants, and Mission Liaison opportunities, SCoPE equips scientists with the skills and networks needed to meaningfully engage the public with NASA science.
Held in collaboration with key SciAct teams—including Infiniscope, Co-creating with Communities, NASA’s Community College Network, and NASA’s Universe of Learning—the 2025 symposium highlighted the incredible impact of SCoPE over the past four and a half years. The program has financially supported more than 100 early career scientists across a growing network of nearly 1,000 participants.
Over the course of the three-day event, 23 awardees of SCoPE Seed Grants, Travel Grants, and Mission Liaison Grants came together to share their work, connect across disciplines, and explore new avenues for collaboration. Twelve Seed Grant awardees presented their projects, illustrating the transformative power of partnerships with SciAct teams. Highlights included learning how to write for young audiences through mentorship from NASA eClips in support of the children’s book ‘Blai and Zorg Explore the Moon’, designed for elementary learners; a collaborative effort between ‘Lost City, Icy Worlds’ and OpenSpace that evolved into long-term networking and visualization opportunities; and an Antarctic research project that, through collaboration with the Ocean Community Engagement and Awareness using NASA Earth Observations and Science (OCEANOS) project and Infiniscope, both expanded training opportunities for expedition guides and brought polar science to Puerto Rican high school summer interns.
Beyond formal sessions, the symposium embraced community building through shared meals, informal networking, and hands-on experiences like a 3D planetarium show using OpenSpace software, a telescope demonstration with 30 high school students, and a screening of NASA’s Planetary Defenders documentary. Workshop topics addressed the real-world needs of early career professionals, including grant writing, logic model development, and communicating with the media.
Survey responses revealed that 95% of attendees left with a stronger sense of belonging to a community of scientists engaged in outreach. Participants reported making valuable new connections—with peers, mentors, and potential collaborators—and left inspired to try new approaches in their own work, from social media storytelling to designing outreach for hospital patients or other specialized audiences.
As one participant put it, “Seeing others so passionate about Science Communication inspired me to continue doing it in different ways… it feels like the start of a new wave.” Another attendee remarked, “I want to thank the entire team for SCoPE to even exist. It is an incredible team/program/resource and I can’t even imagine the amount of work, dedication and pure passion that has gone into this entire project over the years. Although I only found SCoPE very recently, I feel like it has been incredibly helpful in my scientific journey and I only wish I had learned of the program sooner. Thank you to the entire team for what was a truly educational and inspirational workshop, and the wonderful community that SCoPE has fostered.”
This successful event was made possible through the dedication of NASA SciAct collaborators and the leadership of SciAct Program Manager Lin Chambers, whose continued support of early career engagement through SCoPE has created a growing, connected community of science communicators. The SCoPE Summer Symposium exemplifies how cross-team collaboration and community-centered design can effectively amplify the reach of NASA science.
Learn more about how NASA’s Science Activation program 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/
SCoPE-funded scientists and collaborators gather at the 2025 SCoPE Summer Symposium to celebrate program success, share ideas, build partnerships, and advance science communication and education efforts across NASA’s Science Activation program. Share
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Last Updated Jul 15, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
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