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.
A new study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examines a variety of alternative launch programs to support NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2018 that range from $26 billion to $38 billion through 2017.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has completed its first week of science observations and all of its instruments are working normally, the agency announced Oct. 16. From Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, the spacecraft's science instruments surveyed dozens of sites that reflect different episodes in Mars' history. The orbiter will begin its primary science mission phase in early November when Mars re-emerges from conjunction, when it will pass nearly behind the sun.
A Boeing team has begun flight-testing the modified U.S. Air Force C-130H gunship that next year will be outfitted with a chemical oxygen/iodine laser (COIL) for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) program. ATL is a $200 million advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) that began in 2001 and is scheduled to wrap up next fall. The kilowatt-class COIL for ATL is intended to destroy or disable ground targets such as trucks or other vehicles. The program's fiscal 2007 budget is $45 million. Began Oct. 10
