NOAA taps NASA satellite manager for NESDIS
Stephen Volz will shepherd programs to build and launch the next generation of environmental satellites.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration named Stephen Volz, a top NASA earth sciences satellite manager, to oversee its environmental satellites and information services.
NOAA said on Sept. 29 that it had tapped Volz to lead its National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, replacing Mary Kicza, who retired earlier this year as the NESDIS assistant administrator. Volz, said NOAA, will assume this new role Nov. 2.
As NESDIS assistant administrator, Volz will shepherd the agency's programs to build and launch the next generation of environmental satellites, including the Joint Polar Satellite System, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series, and the Deep Space Climate Observatory, known as DSCOVR, set to launch in early 2015.
The agency also said he would manage NOAA's current spacecraft fleet and NESDIS' vast climate, oceanographic and geophysical data operations.
Volz currently manages all of NASA's earth science flight missions and associated activities, including 17 satellites operating in orbit, 12 in formulation and development, and others in the early study and design stages.