STARS™ (Science Technology and Research Students): A Hands-on, Interactive, Scientific and Cultural Exchange Lesson

The STARS (Science Technology and Research Students) Program developed by SPACEHAB, Inc., is a commercial educational initiative which leverages the excitement of space to inspire students' interest in the areas of engineering, mathematics, and science by means of a hands-on, interactive approach. In January 2003 students from six countries participated in, and tracked the progress of, their own space-based experiments flown aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The students participated in every development stage of their experiments from hypothesis definition to the analysis of data collected during the flight. By taking this approach students gained a wealth of knowledge in the areas of math, science, and engineering, while simultaneously learning to work as a world-wide, multicultural team. Results were gathered from a distributed survey and from post-mission activities.