WASHINGTON—NASA announced on Monday it has picked a longtime solar scientist who heads its heliophysics division to become the U.S. space agency’s science chief.
Nicola Fox, former top scientist on the Parker Solar Probe mission studying the sun, was named as NASA’s associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.
A memo to agency employees from NASA chief Bill Nelson, obtained by Reuters, first announced Fox’s appointment. He lauded Fox’s past work on missions to better understand the sun and how solar wind affects satellites and planets.
“She has been instrumental in making this complex area accessible to the public,” Nelson said. “Her work already spans so many areas of importance to the agency.”…