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.
On the verge of his planned departure from NASA, Administrator Michael Griffin is characteristically blunt when asked about what was perhaps the most controversial decision of his tenure—basing NASA’s next-generation Ares launch systems on heritage space shuttle hardware rather than on U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles or new rockets.
Congressional auditors say NASA isn’t getting its money’s worth from the investigations carried out by the space agency’s inspector general. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, says in a report released Jan. 9 that of the 71 reports issued by NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) in fiscal years 2006 and 2007, only one had any recommendations on how to save taxpayers’ money.
The White House and Congress face a number of imminent decisions concerning NASA in 2009, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says, including whether the agency will endure another full-year continuing resolution, as well as decisions on the future of the International Space Station (ISS) beyond 2015.
