Recorded on 09/14/2022

The New Space Age: Inside the Transformation of NASA with Former NASA Official Lori Garver

Innovation

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Recorded on September 14, 2022.

When Lori Garver joined NASA in 1996, she was full of hope and enthusiasm but had no idea of the battle that lay ahead. Over the years, her passion for space exploration combined with her strong work ethic led her to take on increasingly senior posts and eventually become the agency’s second in command from 2009 to 2013 during the Obama administration. During this time, she spearheaded the transformation of the entrenched bureaucracy of NASA and brought the U.S. space program into the 21^st century.

Garver and a like-minded team of unlikely revolutionaries, including Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos, Founder of the Virgin space companies Richard Branson, and Space X Founder Elon Musk, to create more innovative and less costly alternatives to space travel. Unfortunately, they encountered tremendous resistance to any disruption to the status quo from NASA leaders, politicians, and aerospace giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, both of which had a vested interest in keeping the focus on existing projects.

In her new book, Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age, Garver details her uphill battle to change policies and reallocate funding toward more cost-effective and realistic commercial endeavors, rather than the $23+ billion Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule she fears will bankrupt the space program before it ever gets a single astronaut on the moon.

In this session, Garver talked about how she collaborated with Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk to transform NASA and lead the U.S. Space program into a new space age. Despite the setbacks she and her allies encountered, Garver remains hopeful about the future of NASA and the U.S. space industry.

PURCHASE ESCAPING GRAVITY: MY QUEST TO TRANSFORM NASA AND LAUNCH A NEW SPACE AGE HERE.

About Lori Garver

Lori Garver was the principal advisor on aerospace issues to three presidential candidates and led the NASA transition team for President Obama. She served as the Deputy Administrator of the Space Agency from 2009 to 2013 and is known as an architect of the new era of commercial partnerships that allow SpaceX to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. 
Garver is the founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, an internship and mentorship program for collegiate women interested in pursuing space careers. She is the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Aerospace and has been awarded three NASA Distinguished Service Medals. She lives in Washington, DC.