Why NASA Hired a Chief Economist
Evaluating the economic impact of space travel.
NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in a photo released by NASA, on March 20.
Photographer: Aubrey Gemignani/NASA/Getty ImagesListen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts
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This week, NASA is scheduled to launch Artemis II, a mission that will send astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. But this comes at a time when the space agency is facing some pretty big funding challenges, as well as growing competition with private players like SpaceX. In this episode, we speak with Alexander MacDonald, who served as NASA's first chief economist and is now a senior associate at the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS. We talk about why the space agency had economists, how space exploration is funded, and how NASA measures its own economic impact. Please note, this episode was recorded March 10.