A view of the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 15, 2022. Also in view are two of the three lightning towers that surround the pad and protect the SLS and Orion from lightning strikes.

Laguna San Rafael National Park, seen as the space station orbited 268 miles above Chile

NASA Leadership

The agency’s current Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and Associate Administrator.

Bill Nelson, Administrator

Sen. Bill Nelson was sworn in as the 14th NASA Administrator on May 3, 2021, tasked with carrying out the Biden-Harris administration’s vision for the agency. Nelson served in the U.S. Senate for 18 years from Florida and as a payload specialist on space shuttle mission 61-C in 1986.

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Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

Pam Melroy, Deputy Administrator

Col. (USAF, ret) Pam Melroy was sworn in as the NASA deputy administrator on June 21, 2021. Melroy performs the duties and exercises the powers delegated by the administrator, assists the administrator in making final agency decisions, and acts for the administrator in his absence.

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NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy

James Free, Associate Administrator

James Free is the senior advisor to Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. In his role, Free leads the agency’s 10 center directors as well as the mission directorate associate administrators. Free previously served as associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.

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