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.
Supporters are calling on Congress to preserve Fiscal 2007 funding for NASA's Centennial Challenges prize program. "Centennial Challenges is currently returning highly leveraged and efficient research, development and engineering benefits to NASA at extremely low costs, and stands ready to accomplish even loftier goals if given additional funding," the Space Frontier Foundation says.
NASA says it will continue to support its Centennial Challenges prize program, despite the fact that Congress may be on the brink of denying funding to the effort for the second year in a row. Senate appropriators have voted to deny the program's $10 million fiscal 2007 budget request, although the Senate and House have yet to agree on a final FY '07 NASA budget (DAILY, Nov. 29).
After further analysis of its last two space shuttle flights, NASA has downgraded the risk of foam debris to the orbiter and is proceeding with plans to launch Discovery on the next space station assembly mission Dec. 7. During at two-day flight readiness review (FRR) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida that wrapped up Nov. 29, managers reviewed new analysis of the danger posed to the orbiter by foam debris shed from the external tank during ascent - the phenomenon that doomed Columbia nearly four years ago.
