“First commercial space taxi a pit stop on Musk’s Mars quest”

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor at the Maxwell School of Citizen and Public Affairs, and W. Henry Lambright, Professor of Public Policy at the Maxwell School, were interviewed by the AP for the article “First commercial space taxi a pit stop on Musk’s Mars quest.” The article covers how Elon Musk’s visionary fleet of new private rockets mark “the first time a for-profit company will carry astronauts into the cosmos.” Lambright stated that “NASA’s two deadly space shuttle accidents — Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 — were pivotal,” as that was “where private companies came in.” In 2005 Professor O’Keefe was a NASA administrator, directing a pilot project that “helped private companies develop ships to bring cargo to the station.” Ultimately, Lambright believes that one “can’t explain SpaceX without really understanding how NASA really kind of nurtured it in the early days.”