STEM in 30
STEM in 30 is a non-commercial online science educational program for middle school students produced by the Smithsonian's National [Air and Space Museum] in Washington, D.C. The show is hosted by science-educators Marty Kelsey and Beth Wilson. The program is released on a monthly basis throughout the school year free through the , YouTube and social media as well as broadcast on NASA-TV. Each episode is typically a half hour and features special guests and different science, math, engineering or technology topics.
Since first broadcasting in 2014, the program has covered dozens of topics including the NASA's Apollo program, Tuskegee Airmen, astronaut training, the Wright brothers and the Orion program. While the program is often based in one of the two locations of the National Air and Space Museum, the show has also been filmed on location in New York City, Seattle, Boston, Detroit, Houston, in Hurricane Florence and on the aircraft carrier.
The first four seasons of the show were broadcast live with a student audience. With its fifth season, STEM in 30 has switched its format to a pre-taped show along with a "Mission Debrief" a week later featuring a topic expert. The "Mission Debrief" is a live question and answer session about that month's topic.
In 2019, the first episode of season five, "Robotics: FIRST There Were People, Then There Were Machines," was nominated for a National Capital / Chesapeake Bay Emmy Award for Technology Program. The program has since received five regional Emmy nominations in total.
As of 2025, it was rerun by Nashua ETV, part of Nashua Community Television, in Nashua, New Hampshire.
List of episodes
| Episode | Title | Special Guests |
| 1.1 | Vacuum Packed Space Food: It's What's for Dinner | Chef K |
| 1.2 | Kites to Flight: Inventing with the Wright Brothers | Tom D. Crouch |
| 1.3 | Lighter, Stronger, Better: Composites | Dan Hagedorn |
| 1.4 | Space Junk: Fast Trash | Dr. Cathy Lewis, Dr. Roger Thompson, Dr. Don Thomas, Dr. Andrew Johnston |
| 1.5 | Oh You're Just Full of Hot Air: Hot Air Balloons and Air Pressure | Tom D. Crouch, Vanessa Nagengast, Greta Glaser, Curt Westergard, Ron Broderick |
| 1.6 | WWI: How History Shaped Technology | Dr. Peter Jakob, Dan Taylor, Dorothy Cochrane, Christopher Moore |
| 1.7 | Earth Day: Earthrise and Photography from Space | Dr. Jennifer Levasseur, Dr. Martin Collins, Dr. Andrew K Johnston |
| 1.8 | Living and Working in Space | Dr. Piers Sellers, Paolo Nespoli, Dr. Jennifer Levasseur, Dr. Valerie Neal |
| Episode | Title | Special Guests |
| 3.1 | Star Trek at 50: Science Fiction to Science Fact | Margaret Weitekamp, Marc Okrand, Rod Roddenberry |
| 3.2 | A Sky Full of Color: Live from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta | Tom D. Crouch, Andy Richardson |
| 3.3 | Seven Minutes of Terror: The Engineering behind Landing on Other Planets | Ian Clark, Bill Siders, Paolo Nespoli, Timothy Kopra |
| 3.4 | Scientist or Guinea Pig: Science on Station | Anna Lee Fisher, Brett McNish, Stephanie Wilson, Kjell Lindgren, Michael Collins, Timothy Kopra |
| 3.5 | The Wright Stuff: Flying the Wright Flyer | Peter Jakab, Keith Yoerg, Tom D. Crouch, Anna Lee Fisher, Barrington Irving, Timothy Kopra, Kobie Boykins, Eric Fanning, Christina Koch, Kjell Lindgren |
| 3.6 | The Biology of Long Term Space Flight | Michael Barratt, Kjell Lindgren, Anna Lee Fisher |
| 3.7 | Taking the Fast Lane to Orbit: The Technology of Rockets and Racecars | Kurt Romberg, Kevin Schlesier, Jacob Wallace, Rick Davis, Warren Lipford |
| 3.8 | The Women who are Paving the Way to Mars | Abigail Harrison, Catherine Wiedman, Christina Koch, Anne McClain |
| 3.9 | World War I: Legacy, Letters, and Belgian War Lace | Dirk Wouters, Katrin Wouters, Peter Jakab, Karen Thompson, Lora Vogt, Paul Broadhurst, Juliete Broadhurst, Alice Blom, Louis Blom |
| Episode | Title | Episode Synopsis | Special Guests | Mission Debrief Expert |
| 5.1 | Robotics: FIRST There Were People, Then There Were Machines | Beth and Marty invite local FIRST teams to show off their robotic skills, while they learn about the different FIRST competitions and the different robots that reside at the museum. | Dean Kamen, Frank Merrick | Paul Ceruzzi, Centreville Robotics, CascadesThunderbots |
| 5.2 | What Goes Up Must Come Down: Plummeting Through the Layers of the Atmosphere | Beth, Marty and a group of middle school students learn about the different layers of the atmosphere by looking at Alan Eustace's world-record-setting skydive and a weather balloon. They find out why the earth has layers and how that's related to weather. | Alan Eustace, Jared Leidich, Chris Strong | Anne Douglass |
| 5.3 | World War One: How the Great War Still Influences Today | A group of middle schoolers travel back in time to learn about what caused the Great War and what life was like on the home front. Marty and Beth join them for a look at the Sopwith Camel, one of the most important airplanes from the war. | Patty Wagstaff, Dr. Peter Jakab | Dr. Peter Jakab |
| 5.4 | Magic or Math? Math in the Aerospace Industry | Marty decides to quit the show to become a magician, the show gets a special message from the Houston Texans and a group of middle-schoolers race the Wright Flyer. | Toro, Peggy Whitson, Joe Acaba, Corey Williams | Dr. David DeVorkin, Dr. Geneviève de Messières |
| 5.5 | STEM in Real Life | Beth and Marty celebrate their 50th episode by taking a look back at all the guests and segments of the show. They also look at the different ways science, technology, engineering and mathematics have been used on the show for real life situations. | Marc Okrand, Kate Rubins, Jared Leidich, Aaron Parness, Dean Kamen, Curt Westergard, Dr. Michael Nickens, Jon Burkhardt, Tom D. Crouch, Amanda Malkin Andy Richardson, Kjell Lindgren, Frederick D. Gregory, Randy "Komrade" Bresnik, Scott Tingle, Paolo Nespoli, Peggy Whitson, Shaesta Waiz, Samantha Cristoforetti, Reid Wiseman, Stephanie Wilson, Dr. Peter Jakab, Rod Roddenberry, Ivanka Trump, Shauna Edson, Michael Collins, Dr. Cathy Lewis, Shane Kimbrough Tim Kopra, Alan Eustace, Walter Cunningham, Michael Barratt, Buz Carpenter | Lisa Pitts |
| 5.6 | Your Ticket to Space: Commercial Spaceflight | Marty and Beth travel to a middle school to conduct some experiments that they haven't been allowed to do in the museum, while explaining the difference between the NASA space program and other commercial space programs. The National Air and Space Museum and Virgin Galactic celebrate the launch of the commercial spaceship SpaceShip Two. | Tom Lassman, Scott Tingle, Celena Dopart, Dr. Michael Neufeld, Dr. Ellen Stofan, Sir Richard Branson, Dr. Valerie Neal, Mike Moses, Karin Nildotter, Byron Henning, Mark Stucky, Harrison Ford, Victor Glover | Tom Lassman |
| 5.7 | Rock Me Like a Hurricane: The Science of Earth's Largest Storms | Marty travels with the hurricane hunters through the eye of Hurricane Florence. To better understand the type of data that was collected, he and Beth travel to New York City to talk with ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee. They also talk to the chief scientist of the JUNO mission to Jupiter about hurricanes on other planets. | Ginger Zee, Shauna Edson, 1st Lt. Garrett Black, Hoot Gibson, Scott Bolton | Jason Samenow |
| 5.8 | Reboot the Suit: Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit | Marty and Beth surprise a group of middle-schoolers with being able to visit the National Air and Space Museum's conservation lab and see the spacesuit Neil Armstrong wore on the Moon. The students are taught about how important conservation is to the museum and how conservationists protect the collection. | Cathy Lewis, Lisa Young, Michael Collins, Jennifer Lavasseur, Alvin Drew | Cathy Lewis |
| 5.9 | Voyage to the Moon: 50 Years Ago and Today | Coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Beth and Marty travel to Seattle to see the Command Module Columbia that took Neil, Buzz and Michael to the Moon and back. Marty visits the Baltimore Ravens' practice field to find out how to hit moving targets and a group of middle schoolers face off against professional soccer players from Reign FC in gravity games. | Ted Heutter, Gene Kranz, Geoff Nunn, Michael Collins, Robert Griffin III, Willie Snead IV, Tim Dee, Megan Oyster, Darian Jenkins, Poppy Northcutt | Christine Darden, Margot Lee Shetterly |
| Episode | Title | Special Guests | Live Chat |
| 7.1 | Victory in Japan, and the End of WWII | Donald Stratton, Scott Tingle, George Haines, Geraldine 'Geri' Nyman | Katherine Sharp Landdeck |
| 7.2 | Pushing the Envelope: The Art and Science of Ballooning | Tom Crouch, Alan Eustace, Jared Leidich, Bill Costen, Vanessa Nagengast, Greta Glaser, Andy Richardson, Ginger Zee, Zebras | Bill Costen |
| 7.3 | At Home In Space: The International Space Station at 20 | John Herrington, Drew Feustel, Shane Kimbrough, Scott Tingle, Nick Hague, Anne McClain, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, David Wolf, Ryan Shank, Mark Vande Hei, Joe Acaba, Victor Glover, Michael Barratt | Kjell Lundgren |
| 7.4 | The Need for Speed: TOPGUN and Naval Aviation! | Alfred Taddeo, Chris Browne, Jason Hwang, Robert Curbeam, Joe "Pound" Ash, Victor Glover, Matt Baumgardt | Blue Angels |
| 7.5 | Communication is Key: National History Day 2021 | Gene Kranz, Bill Costen, Robert Griffin III, Darian Jenkins, Craig Laughlin, Megan Oyster, Tom Crouch, John Herrington, Elizabeth Borja, Margot Lee Shetterly, Jennifer Levasseur, Ginger Zee, Kevin Lamparter, Paul Griffith, Lexi Danielson, Lexi Simms, Quentin Basnaw, Ryan Shank, Devon Eifel | Jennifer Levasseur, Teasel Muir-Harmony, James David, Peter Jakab, Heather Wilson |
| 7.6 | Perseverance, What it Takes to Explore the Red Planet | Courtney Peckham, Shannon Baldioli, Katie Stack Morgan, Matthew Golombek, Jaden Jefferson, Alex Mather, Mariah Baker, John Grant | Abigail Harrison |
| 7.7 | Shhhhh. The Science of Stealth | Chris Kratt, David Robarge, Dean Kamen, Walter Watson, Jeff Duford | Tim Sutton, Kristen Wolfe |
| 7.8 | Space Shuttle at 40 | Michael Barratt, Alvin Drew, Anna Fisher, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Jennifer Levasseur, David Wolf, John Herrington, Paul Richards, Michael Good, Ray-J Johnson, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Drew Feustel, Joe Acaba, Ricky Arnold, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenberger, Julie Kramer White | Amy Foster, Emily Margolis |
| 7.9 | What do you want to be when you grow up? Careers in Aerospace | Ginger Zee, Kjell Lindgren, Anne McClain, Peter Plavchan, Mary Jimenez, Natasha Latouf, Alvin Drew, Ryan Shank, Quentin Basnaw, Lexi Simms, Lexi Danielson, Maj. Michelle Curran, Kate Rubins, Julie Kramer White, Michael Good, Ryan Dahm, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Danielle Richey, Dean Kamen, Jeff Williams, Jared Leidich, Scott Tingle, Gene Kranz, Michael "Doc Nix" Nickens, David Wolf, Capt. Ray "Gator" Stromberger, Poppy Northcutt, Robert Griffen III, Alan Eustace, Ariel Tweto, Victor Glover, Maj. Jason Markzon, Anna Fisher, Anousheh Ansari, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger | Kelly Johnson, Andre Gore, DeMarco Best |