NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) is an Earth science mission to study how effectively plants use water by measuring their temperature from space. It launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in summer 2018, and was affixed to the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) where it makes its temperature measurements.

ECOSTRESS is a pathfinding instrument that NASA has developed to study plant health and water stress and improve monitoring of drought and agricultural vulnerabilities. Data from ECOSTRESS enables other science and applied science investigations around monitoring volcanoes, urban heat stress, wildfires, and coastal and inland water bodies. 

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. The agency develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. It shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.