One-on-One Interview: Gwynne Shotwell, President, SpaceX

Full video from The Atlantic available at: fora.tv/conference/navigate_th...
President SpaceX Gwynne Shotwell talks with The Atlantic's Mary Louise Kelly about SpaceX's plans for visiting Mars. When will it happen? Listen for more details.

[@Dreygar]

Elon Musk has always been the face of SpaceX, but I believe Gwynne Shotwell is the #2 person and it's great to see her. It's no wonder Elon Musk trusts her because she is down to earth, intelligent, and not driven by greed or personal motives.

[@Jbroglydecap]

"..and not driven by greed or personal motives.." Karl Marx, is that you?

[@astrogirl1usa]

You characterize her very well. She actually IS the number 2 person at SpaceX. She is over the company's operations - all of them. The only person higher up than Gwynne at SpaceX, is Elon Musk. He mostly concentrates his energies on the engineering side of SpaceX, while she is actually running the business side. I'm sure she consults with Elon on the really big stuff. I'm not saying she has total autonomy, but Elon does have a lot of faith in her, to have her in such a position at his rocket company. She does have a background in aerospace, engineering, as well as business. This is not the first aerospace company she has been a major executive for, either.

[@davidcampbell4174]

I think Tom Meuller was more important, but a company like this definitely needs someone like Shotwell.

[@tmdarkansas]

It’s interesting to go back and watch interviews such as these and knowing that they have already realized most of the goals stated back then. SpaceX is a great company with great leadership.

[@rowland5951]

Yes its crazy

[@seremetvlad]

she is incredible!

[@CraigVanderGalien]

I'm going to binge on Firefly now.

[@samjubilee6593]

The interview lady - she could have drawn Gwynne out more, let her elaborate more - but other than that slight criticism, she is a force ! Stunning looks, poised, at ease, a mother, beyond classy, thoughtful. Current TV network news anchors and presenters (no real reporters anymore, sadly) could only dream...

[@eikethw]

I like that she often talks right to the people not to the Interviewer all the time

[@ElizabethHernandez-cj3mw]

Those boots tho 😲 I want them. ANd she is amazing 🙌🏻

[@ozzyfromspace]

lol I'm a guy but I noticed the boots immediately too 😂. They're fire. And yeah, she's an incredible role model and I respect her so much 🏆

[@Entropy__]

how awesome is that lady?!?!

[@bobert4him]

GO! GO! GO! GO!

[@clara4942]

Gwynne's my hero!

[@drewgraham1482]

fireflyyyyy

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Two both agreement with permission aloud it, so u miss how important of interstellar topic

[@bedtimeparadox]

So she is the "Gwen" from Tony Stark aka Elon Musk

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

After established frequency transportation all infrastructure

[@superbhub5424]

Day to day operations of SpaceX and also takes in account the customer and strategic relations to support company growth. Get here: superbhub.com/biography/gwynne-shotwell-net-worth-salary-family-age/.

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

It's now study of universe bcz need it first remember right way knowledge about space

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Without permission never ever,so miss my president space x

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

How moon and Earth combination transportation balance

[@jcsmooth70]

Smart, funny, and gorgeous! Best combination on earth :)

[@gasdive]

Like camping. Yep, like camping somewhere much much harsher than the summit of Everest. It's 20 degrees warmer on the summit and there's air you can breath, hardly any radiation. It's paradise compared to Mars.

[@theTruB]

Thought that included or just was about the trip to mars. More about what you need to do rather than what its like, like shitting in zero gravity is like shit in the Forrest.

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

So always think till now before established at moon and Mars.. now need training wise live work only for moon established

[@davidvonch8223]

I think its kewl that Gwen is so into saving humanitys future.

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Hii miss..

[@aprilrandolph1]

Emmanuel verses Creation, maybe with is also just for the boss man.

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Mean two space craft up go up back balance with space station need balance.. and quick

[@eagleeye7525]

14:00 " I've scared you"

[@eagleeye7525]

14:00 " i scared you"

[@TheSpaceXFanClub]

My guess is that you are looking at a tricorder screen right now and you don't even know it.

[@jdealba01]

Gwynne is great, Mary as the host not so much...

[@sergiogo9188]

Some body just sabotage my comments before this one

[@dannyduchamp]

There's something weird about Spacex people. I thought it was just Elon Musk but this person is the same. They just don't seem to have a good sense of how insane they sound. I guess that's why they do the amazing things they do.

[@Dreygar]

There is nothing insane or weird about these people. They are forward thinkers. As she stated, we are explorers by nature. Our world wouldn't be as connected as it is if we weren't. Space has always been inspiration for many things in history and it challenges us to advance, and will continue to challenge us even as we begin to leave earth for other planets.

[@seanz6586]

And look at what has been accomplished so far!

[@jcsmooth70]

That's the best way to be though! they are so fixed on their mission that boundaries are not an issue. They look at goals as things that must happen not just making an effort and patting themselves on the back.

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Only my body blood more scientist of space

[@kennethferland5579]

I've always thought SEP was the future, for SpaceX ultimate goal of cheap colonization they can't rely on a direct flight to Mars and then back to Earth because it means their expensive vehicle is spending 2 to 3 YEARS to perform one trip. With that kind of flight profile they can't get more then 10 uses out the vehicle over a 30 year lifespan (in 30 years your vehicle is obsolete no matter what condition it is in physically). They love to talk about how a plane ticket would be unaffordable if we threw the plane away after 1 trip, but using the plane for only 10 trips it is hardly much better, they need thousands of re-uses to make it work and that means launching nearly ever week. To use the rocket every week they need to deliver and assemble cargo containers in orbit from multiple launches and then send the cargo towards Mars when the orbital alignment window opens. Thous windows open every 26 months even for very efficient engines like SEP. A very small and propellent efficient SEP engine can move many times it's mass between the planets. Then at Mars rockets can take the cargo down to the surface in small batches. The rockets can do their job of up-and-down from surface to orbit and get rapid reuse and amortization. Only the SEP vehicle is getting poor amortization, but it compensates by being much more fuel efficient so it doesn't break the bank. Basically you end up with something that looks a lot like inter-modal shipping containers here on Earth. Trucks continually deliver 1 container at a time to a waiting container-ship into which hundreds or thousands of containers are loaded and locked to the ships structure. Then the ship dose it's long slow but efficient transit and the cargo is transferred back to a truck for delivery to the destination. The trucks get to spend ALL their time in transit, and the ships can sit still while being loaded. In fact using standard 20ft shipping containers (made of Lithium Aluminum) is probably exactly the container that should be used for space transport too because it will simplify and link the space transport industry with the surface transport industry. This is the only logical way to do sustained Mars transit and SpaceX has done the math and looked at the logistics and reached the one inescapable solution for what the mission and vehicle architecture will look like given the technology portfolio that we have today. Not surprising SEP is how the Russians have always planned to go to Mars, and SpaceX invariably dose what the Russians would have done as they try to minimize costs.

[@relaxingclassicalmusic8557]

I'm sure many people would like to sit in a space container for 2 years waiting for it to be filled up.

[@BosonCollider]

I think a high Earth/lunar orbit colony could eventually be very useful as a waystation where colonists can be piled up between transfer windows to Mars, so that people can be launched from Earth at a constant rate to amortize launch costs. Whenever a lot of people would migrate to a given destination, historically towns have always sprung up making a profit by acting as waystations for colonists. I believe the colonization of Mars will be similar.

[@ramonbenito9840]

Talk is crazy until you are proven right.

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Space x Earth and moon soft landed need

[@dubemelchi]

What is with "intellectual" interviewers and their awful, cringe inducing jokes! no one wants to here about your grocery list! We're here for Gwen's insights.

[@RockPhonic]

They both look the same.

[@NS-gr9cy]

The interviewer does not feels that kind to me.

[@blutoob]

Dude you shoulda made her a partner at like 5%

[@korawega6293]

Am sure Gwen has a lot of stock options

[@blutoob]

Nah percentages are great for two reasons, you retain X% regardless, and they lose money when they fuck up.

[@blutoob]

She was willing to gamble, so let her eat them, no salary raise - Major Sharee authority. Think about it, right now you eat a company loss in its entirety. This way, a 40% board of eight, reduces your losses - self delegates - and allows reallocation of your personal time as a resource (you need to be on camera as much as possible)

[@chookin1]

Only for the naive. What a scam.

[@blutoob]

Force ownership by giving it