Dr Nicola Fox on the tragedy that changed her life

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

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Summary

After completing her PhD, Dr Fox took up a post-doctoral fellowship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland. In 2010, she became the project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe, humanity’s first mission to a star.

Shortly after she began working on the Parker Solar Probe project, she was away on work business when her husband died suddenly, leaving their very young children home alone. She told Lauren about that fateful day.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio podcasts.
0:07.3	Right, you feeling ready? I'm feeling ready.
0:10.8	I'm Amal Rajin. Join me on my new podcast for in-depth conversations with pioneers and
0:16.0	innovators, talking about the trends and ideas that could help shape and change our future.
0:21.4	We are going to be digital citizens of this AI world, whether we like it or not.
0:26.2	From declining birth rates to disinformation online, can they solve the world's biggest challenges?
0:32.0	What I would love to do is go to the transfer and say radically cut the taxes of those with children.
0:37.3	Radical with me and Mulrajan.
0:39.3	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:58.3	Hello, I'm Lauren Levern and this is Desert Island Discs postcards.
1:04.1	Funny, moving and memorable moments from those who've been cast away to our imaginary desert island.
1:09.3	Today's postcard comes from the head of science at NASA, Dr. Nicola Fox.
1:14.6	She'd not long started working on Parker Solar Probe, NASA's mission to touch the sun when her husband passed away suddenly while she was travelling.
1:18.2	She told me about it in 2023.
1:21.1	So I was away, actually.
1:22.6	I was in California at the sort of the big conference that we all go to in December.
1:27.4	And I left John with the children, that we all go to in December.
1:29.9	And I left John with the children.
1:32.6	So my daughter was 13 months old and my son was three and a half.
1:37.1	And I went out to an evening meeting and a dinner.
1:45.3	So I remember, you know, I was walking back through San Francisco and I went to go into Macy's thinking, I'll get something for the children. And I put my hand on the door and I had this sort of really weird feeling like I must go and call home
1:50.9	immediately. So, you know, I ran back to the hotel and I called home and John didn't answer. And I
	...

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