The invitation to “do NASA science” is real. NASA has dubbed April as “Citizen Science Month” in recognition of the volunteers who have contributed to thousands of scientific discoveries. 
“I am blown away by the sheer amount of NASA grants and NASA work going on, either through Space Grant or direct NASA grants,” Fox said. “Soon, for example, we will be bringing samples back from Mars. It’s so difficult. Everybody, help us. How do we do this? These are national challenges, national priorities. So do NASA science!”
Assanis understands the importance of expanding public engagement. It is among the recommendations the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has made to President Biden, who appointed Assanis to the council in 2022.
Assanis posed multiple questions to Fox during a 30-minute “fireside chat.” The questions were submitted by the public as well as University students and researchers.
Among the issues raised:

The role of biology. Fox, who was director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division before becoming the head of the Science Mission Directorate last year, said she was unaware of the importance of biological research until she became NASA’s science chief and started looking at other areas of research the agency was pursuing. Now she sees its pivotal role, especially for protecting and sustaining the health of astronauts on long-term missions. She mentioned multiple UD projects, including those testing the impact of microgravity on growing food such as lettuce, as well as efforts to bioengineer materials and substances and recycle wastes for use in new ways. Researchers also are looking at how the human body responds to different medications in microgravity and Fox said astronauts will need a personal medication kit, customized for their specific needs.

Building on the moon. Fox said NASA’s Artemis program aims not just to return to the moon for a visit, but to establish a sustained presence there and be able to launch scientific projects there. “We are doing the work on that infrastructure and what it would take to have a sustained presence. We’re looking at byproducts and how they can be turned into something that can be used. You want to use the resources you have there. How do you build a launch site? How do you build a habitat? How do you protect yourself from a space weather event? What can you do with the resources you have rather than taking a Marriott or Hilton up with you?”

Walking on Mars. Fox said students now in kindergarten through high school will be the “Artemis” generation, the generation that will walk on Mars.

International presence. Asked how NASA’s mission compares to those of China, Japan, Russia and other nations, Fox said much has changed since the U.S. put the first human on the moon. “When we went to the moon in the 1960s, we went as a nation,” she said. “When we go now, we go as a global community.”

NASA’s environmental impact. The Earth’s climate and ecology are of keen concern to NASA and Fox said that concern includes the environmental impact of NASA launches. “We study those very carefully,” she said. “There are many different experiments looking at the effects of rocket plumes, both low down and higher up in the atmosphere. It’s something we take very seriously. It’s part of the whole climate we’re looking at. And when you look at stressors on the Earth’s atmosphere, you look at every stressor.”

Evacuating Earth. Asked if we’ll need to evacuate Earth at some point, Fox said, “The more important thing to do is to look after the health of our planet.”

Working for NASA. Asked if international students could work for NASA, Fox sketched out many such scenarios. NASA employees must be citizens, she said, but there are many ways to participate in the work of the world’s largest space agency. “You don’t have to have a NASA badge to work for NASA. You could be here at the University of Delaware, working with any of the research groups that are working on NASA missions building hardware, for example, building the instruments that are going to space. There are ways to be involved in NASA without necessarily being a civil servant.”

NASA’s Vision for Powerful Science
In her public lecture, Fox traced some of the extraordinary research that has emerged since the 2017 launch of the Parker Solar Probe, which in December will come closer to the sun than any other human-made spacecraft. Fox was the project scientist on this mission. UD’s William Matthaeus, Unidel Professor of Physics and Astronomy, helped to lay the scientific foundation for the mission and worked on three of its instrument teams.
She shared extraordinary images produced by the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, and showed how these images, when combined with those captured by the earlier Hubble Space Telescope, provide nuanced views and complementary data about far-distant galaxies.
She talked about robotic missions that collect samples, such as rocks and dust from asteroids, the ongoing quest to find conditions favorable to life — specifically the presence of carbon and water — and about developing partnerships with commercial companies that provide a variety of services, such as making deliveries to space.
NASA’s Artemis program, with its goal to develop infrastructure on the moon and use it to send crews to Mars and launch spacecraft for even deeper exploration, requires extensive understanding of how such long-term missions would affect the health and wellbeing of astronauts. This highlights the need for more research in biological and physical sciences. It also requires innovative ways of building new structures in space.
Fox also recommended a visit to NASA headquarters in Washington D.C., and a virtual visit to the Earth Information Center’s online headquarters at Earth.gov.
‘No job is beneath you’
Throughout the day, Fox savored encounters with students and took as many of their questions as time allowed.
A frequent request was for her advice on how to get a job at NASA.
“There’s no one path,” she said. “I never set out to be the head of science for NASA. I just enjoy the job I’m doing.”
She urged students to seek out internships, go to lectures, pursue many opportunities to learn and explore the possibilities.
She also urged students and aspiring leaders to embrace the idea that “no job is beneath you.”
“If you’re on a team, something needs to be done,” she said. “The best team leads will do anything.”

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