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.
An international coalition of helicopter operators, manufacturers and industry groups has joined forces with the FAA and other air traffic regulators from around the world to spearhead a new safety push aimed at cutting the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent over the next decade.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin predicts that the U.S. may be able to mount a manned mission to Mars by the late 2020s, following its scheduled return to the moon around 2018. "We will then be in possession of a heavy-lift launch vehicle, which is of course the key element for any approach to going to Mars," Griffin told attendees at the Mars Society's annual convention in Washington Aug. 3. The total mass-to-orbit required for a Mars mission is roughly comparable to the mass of the International Space Station, Griffin said.
The U.S. Marine Corps is considering upgrading the ice protection system for the Block A MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor in the wake of the July 10 incident in which ice in an engine prompted an Osprey to perform a precautionary landing while traveling over the Atlantic to participate in the Farnborough Air Show.
