Friday, February 9, 2018

Former NASA Administrator: NASA Turned Down Free Ride On Falcon Heavy

The former deputy administrator of NASA, Lori Garver, said in an opinion piece in The Hill that NASA turned down an offer to place a payload, for free, on the Falcon Heavy. According to Garver, Musk's launch of his cherry red Tesla Roadster (and spaceman) was the "backup plan" after NASA declined a payload spot. Garver argues that the Falcon Heavy is "just what the space agency needs to escape from the governmental bureaucracy" which has kept the US in low earth orbit for the last 45 years. Musk--with no scientific payload on the Falcon Heavy--instead sent his Tesla out past Mars.