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 is lobbying Congress for the authority to award prizes of more than $250,000 in its Centennial Challenges program, and hopes to get a green light during the current lame-duck session of Congress or early next year. NASA needs authorization from Congress to award prizes of more than $250,000. Centennial Challenges Program Manager Brant Sponberg met with authorizers on Capitol Hill to discuss the issue Nov. 15.
The two major space-based observatories planned for NASA's "Beyond Einstein" program are proceeding with development despite severe funding constraints that already have caused a two-year slip in the launch of the first mission. Beyond Einstein is dedicated to answering fundamental questions about the origin, evolution and eventual fate of the universe. The centerpieces of the program are the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and Constellation-X missions, both of which will study black holes.
Mission managers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity have decided that a proposed route out of Endurance crater is too treacherous and instead favor having the rover retrace its steps to leave the same way it came in. Opportunity has been exploring the stadium-sized crater in Mars' Meridiani Planum region since June. Within Endurance, Opportunity has found evidence of a wet environment in the area's distant past.
