Who is Nicola Fox? First woman to become US Space Agency NASA's science chief

NASA has named longtime solar scientist Dr Nicola Fox as the associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The recent announcement made Fox the first woman to become the US Space agency’s science chief. The scientist headed the heliophysics division of the space agency. NASA administrator Bill Nelson made the announcement on Monday. According to the statement released by the space agency, Fox’s portfolio included more than 100 NASA missions to explore the wonders the universe has to offer. 

“As the director of our Heliophysics Division, Nicky was instrumental in expanding the impacts and awareness of NASA’s solar exploration missions and I look forward to working with her as she brings her talents, expertise, and passion to her new role,” Nelson said on Monday. “We’re all grateful for the interim leadership of Sandra Connelly, who has done an incredible job keeping the mission moving forward over the last couple of months,” Nelson added. The 54-year-old scientist joined NASA in 2018. Before that, she worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Fox previously served as the chief scientist for Heliophysics and the project scientist for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe.

Fox won Carl Sagan Memorial Award 

During her time at NASA, Fox oversaw the agency’s efforts to study the Sun and how its “constant solar wind affects Earth and other planets”. The new science chief has also authored numerous scientific articles and papers. In the year 2021, she was also awarded the American Astronautical Society’s Carl Sagan Memorial Award for her leadership in the field of heliophysics. She also received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal, awarded in 2020. NASA’s Heliophysics Division studies the nature of the sun and how it influences the very nature of space. The study not only helps to understand how the Universe works but also helps in laying the foundation of developing technologies, which will help in protecting the astronauts in space.