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.
NASA's head of safety and mission assurance and the agency's chief engineer explained the rationale for their overruled "no-go" shuttle launch recommendations during a teleconference June 21, and said they're generally comfortable with the final decision to launch in part because the option of sending a rescue shuttle makes the loss of the crew unlikely.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a NASA spending bill June 20 that cuts the agencyís topline budget by $83.2 million below the Bush administrationís request, while shifting more money than requested into science and aeronautics. The committee recommended a total of $16.7 billion for NASA in fiscal 2007, which is an increase of $462.4 million from the FY í06 budget, not counting emergency supplemental funding for hurricane recovery.
Officials with the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program said June 19 that since the program's 2004 restructuring it has been performing on schedule, and currently is running about 1 percent under budget. "We continue to execute on plan and [meet] our schedule commitments," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's FCS program manager. Led by Boeing and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), the total FCS industry team now includes 630 suppliers spanning 40 states and 220 congressional districts.
