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.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A in nearly perfect weather at 2:01 p.m. EDT May 11, kicking off the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Veteran astronaut Scott Altman commands the 11-day STS-125 mission, with retired U.S. Navy Capt. Gregory Johnson serving as pilot. Aboard as mission specialists are veteran astronauts John Grunsfeld — making his third trip to Hubble — and Mike Massimino, along with first-time astronauts Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.
PHANTOM RAY: Boeing on May 8 unveiled the Phantom Ray — a version of its defunct X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle prototype. The company is using its own internal research and development funding for flight tests of the demonstrator, slated for late 2010 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The X-45 lost the Navy-led Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) program to Northrop Grumman’s X-47 in 2007. Exclusive photos of the aircraft appear in Aviation Week’s May 11 issue and more information can be found online at www.aviationweek.com.
STATION RESUPPLY: NASA can proceed with its effort to develop and fly commercial vehicles to resupply the International Space Station, now that an industry protest has been dismissed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). In January, Chicago-based PlanetSpace — which includes Lockheed Martin, ATK and Boeing — protested its loss of $3.5 billion in contracts under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program to rivals Orbital Sciences Corp (OSC) and SpaceX.
