Nicola Fox, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division, right, hears from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center physicist Todd Schneider during her visit to the center Sept. 26. Fox toured multiple facilities at Marshall -- including the Space Environmental Effects facility -- to see firsthand how Marshall scientists and engineers are advancing exploration and discovery.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, is seen during a meeting with German Minister for Research, Technology, and Space Dorothee Bär, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox delivers remarks during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA director of Heliophysics division, Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox, speaks at a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA director of Heliophysics division, Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox, speaks at a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, center, speaks with Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, left, and NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya during NASA’s Day on the Hill, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA director of Heliophysics division, Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox, speaks at a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Earth Science Division Director Karen St. Germain and NASA Earth Science Division Associate Administrator Nicola Fox pose for a selfie with guests during a gathering of NASA Space Apps Challenge Global Winners and Local Leads from around the world Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA director of Heliophysics division, Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox, speaks at a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, second from left, and Dr. Nicola Fox, associate administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, left, visit the High-Capacity Centrifuge, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Goddard marks the first stop in Isaacman’s roadshow to visit NASA facilities and engage directly with the agency’s workforce. Photo Credit: (NASA/John Kraus)

NASA director of Heliophysics division, Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox, shows a photo of Eugene Parker, the physicist who first predicted there was solar wind, during a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, answers a question during a media briefing to discuss the findings from an unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team, commissioned in 2022, is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA published the team’s full report online, which aims to inform about what possible data could be collected in the future to shed light on the nature and origin of UAP. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, speaks during a public meeting of NASA’s unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA commissioned the nine-month study to examine UAP from a scientific perspective and create a roadmap for how to use data and the tools of science to move our understanding of UAP forward. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, speaks during a public meeting of NASA’s unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA commissioned the nine-month study to examine UAP from a scientific perspective and create a roadmap for how to use data and the tools of science to move our understanding of UAP forward. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, speaks during a public meeting of NASA’s unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA commissioned the nine-month study to examine UAP from a scientific perspective and create a roadmap for how to use data and the tools of science to move our understanding of UAP forward. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

From left to right: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman; Dr. Nicola Fox, associate administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Melissa Grady Trainer, deputy principal investigator for the Dragonfly mission; Charles Malespin, chief of the Planetary Environments Lab, discuss the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Goddard marks the first stop in Isaacman’s roadshow to visit NASA facilities and engage directly with the agency’s workforce. Photo Credit: (NASA/John Kraus)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, answers a question during a media briefing to discuss the findings from an unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team, commissioned in 2022, is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA published the team’s full report online, which aims to inform about what possible data could be collected in the future to shed light on the nature and origin of UAP. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, answers a question during a media briefing to discuss the findings from an unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team, commissioned in 2022, is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA published the team’s full report online, which aims to inform about what possible data could be collected in the future to shed light on the nature and origin of UAP. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Panelists, from left to right, NASA Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for Research, Science Mission Directorate, Daniel Evans; NASA Administrator Bill Nelson; NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox; and President of the Simons Foundation and Chair of NASA's UAP Independent Study Team, David Spergel, are seen in a video camera during a media briefing to discuss the findings from an unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team, commissioned in 2022, is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA published the team’s full report online, which aims to inform about what possible data could be collected in the future to shed light on the nature and origin of UAP. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Headquarters Planetary Science Division director Lori Glaze, left, hugs Jet Propulsion Laboratory director Laurie Leshin as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, right, and Associate Administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Nicola Fox watch for the return of the boosters after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid by the same name orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter to study it’s composition. The spacecraft also carries the agency's Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which will test laser communications beyond the Moon. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, participates in a Psyche mission prelaunch news conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, introduces Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics division for the Science Mission Directorate, to give a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Nicola Fox, associate administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, participates in a Psyche mission prelaunch news conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, introduces Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics division for the Science Mission Directorate, to give a presentation titled, “The Challenge of Exploring Our Sun - the 60-Year Odyssey to Parker Solar Probe,” during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Launch and mission managers for NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on Oct. 8, 2019, in the News Center auditorium at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right are Karen Fox, NASA Communications; Nicola Fox, Heliophysics division director in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Thomas Immel, ICON principal investigator at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley; and Steve Krein, vice president of civil and commercial space for Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. ICON is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Oct. 9, 2019, aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket carried aloft by the company’s Stargazer L-1011 aircraft. The explorer will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above.

Launch and mission managers for NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on Oct. 8, 2019, in the News Center auditorium at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right are Karen Fox, NASA Communications; Nicola Fox, Heliophysics division director in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Thomas Immel, ICON principal investigator at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley; and Steve Krein, vice president of civil and commercial space for Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. ICON is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Oct. 9, 2019, aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket carried aloft by the company’s Stargazer L-1011 aircraft. The explorer will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, addresses the media during a Psyche mission prelaunch news conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Also shown are NASA Administrator Bob Cabana, left, and Psyche Project Manager Henry Stone. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Nicola Fox, Heliophysics division director in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, speaks to news media during a prelaunch mission briefing for NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), on Oct. 8, 2019, in the News Center auditorium at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ICON is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Oct. 9, 2019, aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket carried aloft by the company’s Stargazer L-1011 aircraft. The explorer will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above.

A Psyche mission prelaunch news conference takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. From left, participants are: Jasmine Hopkins, NASA Communications; NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana; Nicola Fox, associate administrator, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Henry Stone, Psyche project manager, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Tim Dunn, senior launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program; Julianna Scheiman, director, Civil Satellite Missions, SpaceX; and Arlena Moses, launch weather officer, U.S. Space Force. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Inside Hangar AE’s Mission Director’s Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Nicola Fox, left, Heliophysics division director in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, monitors the launch of the agency’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite. The Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket carrying ICON was released from the company’s L-1011 Stargazer aircraft at 9:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 10, 2019, over the Atlantic Ocean about 50 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida, following takeoff from CCAFS. ICON will spend two years studying the Earth’s ionosphere – the dynamic zone in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above. The launch was managed by the agency’s Launch Services Program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A mission science briefing was held at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site in Florida for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission. From left, are George Diller, public affairs specialist and news conference moderator, Mona Kessel, RBSP program scientist from NASA Headquarters in Washington, Nicola Fox, RBSP deputy project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., Craig Kletzing, principal investigator from the University of Iowa, Harlan Spence, principal investigator from the University of New Hampshire, and Lou Lanzerotti, principal investigator from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. NASA’s RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 24. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A mission science briefing was held at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site in Florida for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission. From left, are George Diller, public affairs specialist and news conference moderator, Mona Kessel, RBSP program scientist from NASA Headquarters in Washington, Nicola Fox, RBSP deputy project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., Craig Kletzing, principal investigator from the University of Iowa, Harlan Spence, principal investigator from the University of New Hampshire, and Lou Lanzerotti, principal investigator from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. NASA’s RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 24. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A mission science briefing was held at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site in Florida for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission. From left, are George Diller, public affairs specialist and news conference moderator, Mona Kessel, RBSP program scientist from NASA Headquarters in Washington, Nicola Fox, RBSP deputy project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., Craig Kletzing, principal investigator from the University of Iowa, Harlan Spence, principal investigator from the University of New Hampshire, and Lou Lanzerotti, principal investigator from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. NASA’s RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 24. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

President of the Simons Foundation and Chair of NASA's UAP Independent Study Team, David Spergel, answers a question during a media briefing to discuss the findings from an unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team, commissioned in 2022, is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA published the team’s full report online, which aims to inform about what possible data could be collected in the future to shed light on the nature and origin of UAP. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)