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 Inspector General (IG) has concluded that agency leaders acted appropriately in deciding to reassign former Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley after he sent e-mails questioning the Obama administration’s proposed redirection of NASA’s human spaceflight plans.
Jefferson Morris (Washington), Amy Butler (Washington)
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is wasting no time mounting its new civil polar weather satellite program for a first launch in 2014, while the agency’s former partner on Npoess, the U.S. Air Force, moves at a slightly more measured pace toward orbiting a system in Fiscal 2018. Though plans are not yet firm for both systems, Northrop Grumman, prime contractor for the dismantled National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (Npoess), has a lot to lose.
HEAVY LIFTING: NASA is seeking proposals and industry input on heavy-lift rocket concepts and propulsion technology. Total funding for the study effort will be $8 million, with individual awards up to $625,000. The proposal deadline is July 29. The information gathered “may help lay the groundwork for humans to safely reach multiple potential destinations, including asteroids, Lagrange points, the Moon and Mars,” NASA says. The agency suggests that “in-space architectural elements” like propellant depots and space transfer stages can be included.
