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.
Despite the back-to-back losses of two critical competitions to variants of General Atomics' Predator, Northrop Grumman is continuing production of its first Hunter II prototype and holds out hope that it may still find customers for the system. A derivative of the Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicle, Hunter II lost in the Army's Extended Range/Multi-Purpose UAV competition in early August, then again in the Department of Homeland Security's Arizona border patrol UAV competition at month's end.
Department of Defense leadership on the development of its space cadre is still lacking, with the department falling behind schedule on many of its stated goals, according to the Government Accountability Office. "Without proactive DOD leadership, the secretary of defense and Congress will not have assurance that the services are obtaining and developing the space cadre the nation needs," the GAO's report says.
NASA's newly unveiled exploration architecture could allow for crews of astronauts to remain on the lunar surface up to six months at a time, should such stays be deemed necessary, according to Administrator Michael Griffin. NASA's first mission back to the moon, targeted for 2018, would have a crew of four astronauts staying no more than a week on the surface (DAILY, Sept. 20). After NASA gains more experience, "we could take crew to the moon, let them work for six months, and then return them," Griffin said in Washington Sept. 19.
