Jim Green, Burlington native and BHS graduate, is stepping down as NASA’s top scientist.
Green is set to retire in early 2022 after four decades with NASA. Green directed NASA’s Planetary Science Division during the Curiosity landing in 2012. He played a lead role in promoting and explaining the Mars rover to the public.
Green also was a consultant for “The Martian,” a film about an astronaut who ends up marooned on Mars.
“I feel tremendously proud about the activities I’ve done at NASA,” Green said in a statement. “In many ways, NASA is not a job. It’s a way of life. We’re always looking for ways to do the impossible.”
Green started his career at NASA by developing the agency’s equivalent to the internet (the Space Physics Analysis Network) in 1980. He is best known for overseeing some of NASA’s biggest space exploration projects in the past 15 years.
Green will assist with the search for his replacement.
“Jim has touched so many important missions over the course of his illustrious career at NASA, not to mention the inspiration he instills in so many who lead the way in space across the board,” said deputy administrator Pam Melroy.
In retirement, Green plans to continue collaborating with NASA.