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.
EXPLOSIVE DISCOVERY: New findings from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are providing insights into the supernova explosions that allow astronomers to measure the accelerated expansion of the universe. The results show the mergers of two dense stellar remnants — white dwarfs — are the likely cause of many Type 1a supernovae, which serve as “cosmic mile markers” because they can be seen at great distances and follow a reliable pattern of brightness, according to NASA. “It was a major embarrassment that we did not know how they worked.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at the very beginning of its hour-long launch window at 10:23 a.m. EST Feb. 11, kicking off a planned five-year mission to study the sun in unprecedented detail. The two-stage United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket carrying SDO featured a single common core booster powered by an RD-180 engine. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41, traveling at a launch azimuth of 93.6 degrees, slightly south of east.
Ground winds at Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., prevented the launch of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) during its one-hour launch window on Feb. 10, forcing the mission to delay yet another day.
