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 Goddard Space Flight Center is requesting information from industry about lightweight spacecraft buses that could carry a proposed solar sail mission vying for the chance to launch in 2010. Goddard's ST-9 Solar Sail mission is a candidate for the New Millennium Program's Space Technology 9 (ST-9) flight opportunity. The mission would validate solar sail technology through the orbital deployment of a steerable solar sail that provides predictable and measurable acceleration.
NASA on Sept. 20 announced new discoveries about surface changes on Mars detected by the agency's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which has been orbiting the red planet since 1997 and is now the longest-lived Mars explorer. MGS has operated around Mars longer than any other spacecraft and sent back more images than all previous Mars missions combined, according to NASA. Its primary instrument, the Mars Orbiter Camera, is the most powerful camera currently orbiting the planet and has imaged nearly 4.5% of Mars' surface in high resolution.
On Sept. 19 in Washington, Administrator Michael Griffin formally unveiled NASA's plan for returning astronauts to the moon and laying the groundwork for trips to Mars, which the agency expects to cost $104 billion between now and the first targeted lunar mission in 2018.
