On April 10, NASA announced its new chief scientist. Dr. Jim Green, who is currently the head of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, will assume his new post on May 1. Dr. Gale Allen, who has been the chief scientist since 2016, will retire at the end of a career spanning over three decades.
Dr. Green earned his Ph.D. in Space Physics in 1979 from the University of Iowa. He then began work at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in their Magnetospheric Physics Branch. While there, he developed and ran the Space Physics Analysis Network that allowed scientists all over the world to quickly access data. After leaving MSFC in 1985, he became the head of the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC). Located at the Goddard Space Flight Center, the NSSDC is the largest archive of space science data operated by NASA.
Dr. Green served as the Chief of the Space Science Data Operations Office from 1992 to 2005. He briefly served as the Chief of the Science Proposal Support Office until he became the head of the Planetary Sciences Division in August 2006. During his career, Dr. Green has also written over 50 technical studies on data networks and systems and 100 articles for peer-reviewed journals on the magnetoshperes of Jupiter and Earth.
Robert Lightfoot, the acting NASA Administrator made a statement in which he thanked Dr. Allen for her exemplary service and wished her well in her retirement. He added that he was “excited” to have Dr. Green as the new science chief on account of his vast research experience and expertise in space exploration.
As chief scientist, Dr. Green will be the main advisor to the Administrator and other agency leaders on NASA policy, space programs, and planning. The chief scientist also communicates to other scientists about NASA’s goals and achievements.
Dr. Lori Glaze, who currently heads the Goddard Spaceflight Center’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory, will succeed Dr. Green as the acting director of the Planetary Sciences Division.
There will be other changes to NASA leadership in the coming weeks. Lightfoot has announced his retirement from NASA on April 30. The current associate administrator, Steve Jurczyk, will succeed him as acting administrator. While Donald Trump did nominate Jim Bridenstine, a former congressman from Oklahoma to the post, Congress has not yet confirmed him – and Trump had made that nomination on September 1, 2017.
