Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
U.S. civil UAV operations are literally heating up, as NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center readies its Ikhana to fly over wildfires and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration embarks on an effort to use UAVs in support of weather forecasting and global warming research.
Within the next few weeks, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California expects to have finalized an agreement to transfer two of the oldest U.S. Air Force Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over to NASA ownership. The two UAVs, which currently are parked outside a hangar at nearby Edwards Air Force Base, are expected to be transported to Dryden in October, according to Dryden spokesman Alan Brown. Produced in the program's advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) configuration, they are Global Hawks #1 and #6.
Next week, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center plans to fly the first operational mission of its Ikhana unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), mapping wildfires in the western U.S. using an infrared scanner built by Ames Research Center. The team plans a checkout flight on or around Aug. 4, then its first 24-hour fire mission Aug. 9, flying at 23,000 feet over as many as a dozen of the many fires that rage on in the western states at any given time during the fire season.
