AIRED: August 15, 2022
SPECIAL GUEST: Lori Garver
Escaping Gravity is former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver’s first-hand account of how a handful of revolutionaries managed to outmaneuver the system of political patronage and bureaucracy that threatened the space agency and the future of human spaceflight.
The success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and countless other commercial space efforts, was preceded by decades of work by a group of people Garver calls space pirates. Escaping Gravity is the story of how the battle of the space billionaires began, and why that matters, penned by one of the key leaders who brought the competition to fruition.
Garver explains how her crusade to transform NASA put her in the crosshairs of the established, powerful interests who viewed her as a threat to the system that has centralized and controlled power since the 1950s.
Including previously unpublished information, conversations, and insights on the epic battles that have transitioned space access to private interests for a fraction of the cost of previous NASA programs, Escaping Gravity offers a blueprint for how to drive productive and meaningful government change.
LORI GARVER
Lori Garver led the NASA transition team for President-elect Obama and served as Deputy Administrator of NASA from 2009 – 2013.
Lori is a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, an Executive in Residence at Bessemer Venture Partners and a member of the Board of Directors for Hydrosat.
Garver founded Earthrise Alliance, a philanthropic organization utilizing satellite data to address climate change and co-founded of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, an internship and mentorship program for collegiate women. Previous
Positions include: Associate Administrator for Policy at NASA and Executive Director of the National Space Society.
She is the recipient of the 2021 Public Service Award for AIAA, the 2021 Heinlein Award for the National Space Society, the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Aerospace and has been awarded three NASA Distinguished Service Medals.
