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.
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to send two V-22 Ospreys to the Farnborough Air Show this year, according to program officials. While participation in the show will allow manufacturers Bell-Boeing to market the V-22 to potential international customers, the Marine Corps is more interested in demonstrating the tiltrotor aircraft's self-deployment capability. "No ships, no terra firma - just tank across the pond," Program Manager Marine Col. Bill Taylor said.
The U.S. Air Force is shifting funds from other efforts to pay for the launch of the TacSat-2 small satellite, and hopes to have all the money in place by the end of this fiscal year, according to Undersecretary Ronald Sega. "We do have a reprogramming activity to fully fund the launch of TacSat-2," Sega told lawmakers during a hearing on the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee in Washington April 7. The TacSat series is intended to demonstrate the military's ability to launch small, "responsive" satellites quickly and at low cost.
Members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) say they have witnessed a slight de-emphasis of safety within NASA's Exploration Systems organization as it firms up plans to develop the agency's next generation of manned spacecraft. During a meeting at NASA headquarters in Washington April 7, ASAP panelist and former Stafford-Covey member Dan Crippen said he feels that NASA's exploration directorate has "lost a little of the focus on safety as being one of the most important criteria in the design process."
