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Escaping Gravity
- My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age
- Narrated by: Lori Garver
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
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Escaping Gravity
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Summary
The inside look at how the battle of the space billionaires began and why it matters, Escaping Gravity is former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver’s firsthand account of how a handful of revolutionaries outmaneuvered the system of political patronage and bureaucracy that threatened the space agency. The success of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and countless other commercial space efforts were preceded by decades of work by a group of people Garver calls “space pirates.”
As the head of the NASA transition team for President-elect Barack Obama and second-in-command of the agency, Garver drove policies and funding that enabled commercial competition just as the capabilities and resources of the private sector began to mature. She was determined to deliver more valuable programs, which required breaking the self-interested cycle controlled by Congress, the aerospace industry, entrenched bureaucrats, and hero-astronauts trying to protect their own profits and mythology.
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 those that were more efficient and could deliver greater progress. Garver details how her quest to transform NASA put her in the crosshairs of these established, powerful interests who viewed her as a threat to the system that has centralized and controlled power since the 1950s.
Including insider NASA conversations and insights on the epic battles that transitioned space access to private resources for a fraction of the cost, Escaping Gravity offers a blueprint for how to drive productive and meaningful government change.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Gavin U
- 28-07-22
A fantastic honest and uplifting memoir
This book was really enjoyable to read from and information point of view and historically. It is sad to read how people have resisted change and the slow down that bureaucracy has caused. It is really disappointing that for so many years since Apollo we have done so little due to this. However it is really very uplifting to see where we are now and where we are going.
A thoroughly enjoyable read that left me with a greater understanding of more recent space history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Brian
- 05-08-23
Insights galore and a fantastic read
Lori Garver narrates a detailed and insightful account of her lengthy experience within the industry, helping (me, at least) to understand more behind and beyond the gilded veneer that the NASA marketing strategy has put up over the many decades of its operation.
What is contained in this book are also concepts you can apply to other industries and personal experiences within careers, emphasising on the reluctance to change all the way through to the very present and painful inequalities that we see commonplace even in this decade.
Thoroughly compelling and well-recommended read!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- aeroroar
- 16-06-22
Top insight into the last 30y of space industry
Rocket science is mostly about controlled chemical explosions, this book is mostly about controlled political explosions! Lori Garver gives an excellent reading of her own book, lending an additional power and authenticity to what she has put down
on paper. And there are plenty of candid descriptions of major figures past and present.
Recommended for anyone at all interested in the development of the space industry
over the past 30+ years.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sean Watson
- 13-09-22
Wonderful wonderful book! honest and enthralling
What's a wonderful and interesting book. Lori does an amazing job of showing you NASA from another point of view. cannot recommend enough
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Martin Spedding
- 26-09-22
Fascinating to hear the politics and the fight
Enjoyed hearing the fight required to move NASA forward. Sad to hear how for some politicians and companies profit was more important than success
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- andrew william jones
- 15-07-22
A must-read
Fascinating insights into the culture at NASA and recent changes. Essential reading for those interested or involved in the space sector.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- Carl
- 01-07-22
A boring attempt to have the last word
A few interesting bits about the space program early on, but mostly just a flattering of old friends and a hit piece on enemies and ex-colleagues. The author aims to get the last word in old, petty arguments that no one else remembers or cares about. She takes credit for everything good that happened and blames others for the failures. A superb example of self indulgence and self rationalization. The book got worse as it went on, and is almost unfinishable as the author wandered well off base into social issues and political axe grinding. if you want a book about NASA or the space program, there are a lot better ones.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Dermot
- 28-06-22
Full of thinly veiled partisan identity politics
This is typical contemporary partisan politics and self-promotion. Pretty disgusting, when you're expecting a book about high-minded service to all of humanity.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- J. S. Anderson
- 19-09-22
Disappointing !
This was a severe disappointment. Too much a tale of herself , the story seems to be a reverse history revision where she saw things happening that could not have been obvious at the time. Very partisan in discussing former administrators and the aerospace companies - who employ thousands of hard working Americans and paid her salary via their taxes while at Nasa. One last thing - usually narration by the author adds to the performance - not in this case. - she has not the voice for this - hopefully her last effort.
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