An Evening with Former Deputy Administrator of NASA Lori Garver, Author of Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age
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Hudson Library 96 Library St., Hudson, Ohio 44236
The Hudson Library & Historical Society will host a live virtual streaming event with Former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, who will discuss her latest book, Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age. The book is Garver's firsthand account of how a handful of revolutionaries managed to outmaneuver the system of political patronage and bureaucracy that threatened the space agency and future of human spaceflight. Kirkus calls this “...A scathing memoir that shows the ugly side of NASA while offering hope for a better future for the space agency."
Garver reveals how like the military, the space industrial establishment preferred to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on programs aimed to sustain jobs and contracts in key congressional districts, over more effective and efficient programs. Lori explains how her crusade to transform NASA put her in the cross hairs 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 Including previously unpublished information, conversations and insights on the epic battles that have transitioned space access to private interests for a fraction of the cost of previous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.
Garver is a leading figure in the US space program who pioneered innovations that transformed NASA. She was the principal advisor on aerospace issues to three presidential candidates and led the NASA transition team for President Obama. Garver 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. She is also the founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, an internship and mentorship program for collegiate women interested in pursuing space careers, the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Aerospace and has been awarded three NASA Distinguished Service Medals.
Copies of Escaping Gravity will be available for purchase courtesy of the Learned Owl Book Shop. Registration for this program is required and a valid email address is required at time of registration. Participants will receive an email invitation to attend the program, hosted on Zoom, a day before the program begins. If you have any questions, please email askus@hudson.lib.oh.us or call (330) 653-6658 x1010.