Private space company SpaceX recently soft-landed a Falcon 9 rocket in the Atlantic Ocean, most notable because it successfully re-entered earth’s atmosphere. This reusable and sustainable approach to space exploration is something embraced by SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell. She was recently interviewed on Marketplace and noted that this process is inevitable:

“What would air travel look like if airplanes were thrown out after each flight? No one would be flying in airplanes. We want to be able to re-use rapidly, just like an airplane.”

“From my perspective, it’s really risk management, to ensure that humans have the ability to go somewhere else in case there were to be some huge disaster on earth.”

You can hear her interview on the Marketplace morning report here!

Gwynne Shotwell has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics, where she first worked in the automotive industry before being hired as the 7th employee at SpaceX. Today she successfully leads a billion dollar company that is revolutionizing space exploration.

Also check out her TEDx Talk on the importance of science, engineering and technology. That’s Canadarm2 that captures, berths, and releases the Dragon capsule at the end of the video!