As U.S. space tourism companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have continued to capitalize on the public interest, the conversation around space travel and exploration has never been more relevant. But before there were Musk and Bezos, there was NASA. Today on Closing Bell, Lori Garver, former deputy administrator at NASA, joins Kristen Scholer to discuss her time at the agency — and what it took for NASA to embrace the privatization of space travel. “As deputy, I was to be able to offload the operational aspects of space to the private sector who could innovate lower costs and allow NASA to really fulfill its objectives as an agency on behalf of the public,” said Garver, who played a critical role in the ongoing partnership between SpaceX and NASA.

Closing Bell

Former NASA Deputy Administrator Talks SpaceX Partnership

Welcome back to closing bell on Shadow News everyone. Well, SpaceX Virgin galactic and Blue Origin are now household names in today's aerospace industry. They might not have been without the trailblazing efforts of one person from 2009 to 2013, she was the number two at Nasa pushing for change by embracing possibilities offered by the privatization of space. And joining me now is Lori Gardner, author and former Deputy Administrator at Nasa. Lori, thank you so much For coming on the show. I know you have a new book titled escaping gravity request to transform NASA launched a new space age, hitting shelves not too long ago. And in it you chronicle your space career in your struggles, navigating the bureaucracy at NASA. What were some of the biggest problems that you saw at the agency when you became the deputy administrator in 2009. Well, thank you for having me. It's great to be with you. I I don't like to be seen as one person who made um you know, this whole thing happened, there was a team of people. But yes, there were challenges. And at Nasa, I think the biggest challenge was the relentless momentum of the status quo. You know, Nasa is a fantastic Agency and has achieved so much in its 60-year history. But it attracted the same kind of people who wanted to do the same kind of things and the world has changed and the government isn't the most efficient way to do operational activities. And so the concept that many people had. But I became in a position to do something about first leading the transition team for the Obama administration at NASA in 2008. And then as deputy was to be able to offload the operational aspects of space to the private sector who could innovate lower costs and allow NASA to really for fulfill its objectives as an agency on behalf of public look, I think space is a household conversation these days and Laurie obviously you've been very influential in getting us to where we are today. What were some of the key initiatives that you pushed for during your time at Nasa? The primary program that has took so long to come to fruition but is now really helping. I think this country be a leader in space. It's called commercial crew. It's launching astronauts to space by the private sector right now. SpaceX is, they were one of two winners going being the second, but SpaceX is already doing it. They've been able to transport astronauts to the space station and after the space shuttle program, we were counting on the Russians to do that. So you can imagine if this hadn't been successful just two years ago with their first flight, we would have only been able to have access to the space station that this nation has spent more than $100 billion developing and operating. Um we would have needed to continue to do that. The Russians. This transition to commercial space is what I felt was critical to lowering the cost. And also to make our own aerospace industry more competitive and effective and look where we are today. And lori do you feel confident about where the U. S. Stands today when it comes to space? Oh we're in a leadership position and we are on a decent trajectory. I would say I'm a pragmatist and I realize the things I and others set out to do have not been fully completed. And frankly without SpaceX we wouldn't be nearly as far along as we are right now. Um we have a program that is called the space launch system and a capsule called Orion which is still being built um planned to be operated by the government that cost over $40 billion. It was supposed to fly back in 2016 its first test flight without astronauts is supposed to be later this month. So I don't think we have fully adopted or adapted to this new future. But I am hopeful that the success of SpaceX and again Boeing if they're able to launch astronauts here in a few more months um on their own will allow us to pivot the agency to focusing on those kinds of things to help the $8 billion, the eight billion all most of us here on Planet Earth, focusing less on spending so much on just buying a few astronauts. You mentioned a few top companies, they're SpaceX technically still a startup private company if you will and not a publicly traded stock for instance, even though obviously it's been extremely successful Boeing is a publicly traded stock. Do you think the privatization of space makes it safer? I think the privatization of space does not hurt safety, um, escaping gravity. Name of my book is hard to beat every time fully reliably. And we and the government have some examples of the government not being able to manage that safely as far as both the challenger and Columbia accidents. So the private sector was argued would overlook safety. But I look to that comparison with the airline industry and I was general manager at the airline pilots union for five years and their safety record is unmatched and that is privately operated government regulated and I think that is a model for a safe space transportation system as well. And part of the reason that I ask about that is because we have seen what's unfolded over history as you mention in there, Lorie with the Challenger and other vessels, but also because the average joe people want to fly to the edge of space or even on the inspiration for with SpaceX well past the Hubble telescope without being an astronaut before making their initial trip. Are you on board with that? Do you think the commercial commercialization of space is where it should be right now. I think this is not only, um, you know, natural trajectory, but something that has been long overdue typically. And I even trained full disclosure and this is in the book as well to go to space myself with a privately funded trip. But I would have had to go through Russia, you know that's just wrong that we in the United States weren't ready to advance this industry and so today we are ahead. Thanks to yes, a couple of billionaires but these aren't taking government tax dollars. These people traveling to space are as you said, carrying out their own dreams and people climb mount Everest. People do dangerous things on their own for their own reasons. I do again recognize this is a very risky and a very public active. So of course it makes me nervous and I am thrilled that here in the first couple of years since we've been having fully private flights. As you mentioned both Blue origin as well as SpaceX and Virgin galactic have virgin galactic did have an accident earlier where one of their pilots was killed, no tourists on that flight. But these are dangerous things that we're doing. People want to take risks that are meaningful for their, their own purposes. And I think that's a very legitimate thing to do. The fact that then leverages um to allow astronauts and the government to pay less for their own flights is a huge benefit. Also. Alright, Lori Garver author of escaping gravity. My quest to transform Nasa and former deputy administrator of Nasa Lori, thank you so much for sharing your story here with us on cheddar news.