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.
Boeing's proposed PICA heat shield material is considered the leading candidate for protecting NASA's Orion spacecraft during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, although the agency is moving forward with an alternative technology development program in case the PICA material runs into problems.
Frank Morring, Jr. and Jefferson Morris (Goddard Space Flight Center)
Upgrades and repairs planned for the Hubble Space Telescope may help astronomers reset the cosmological zeitgeist for future space exploration. But regardless of the scientific outcome, the astronauts who carry out the newly announced servicing mission in the spring of 2008 will work in an operational environment reshaped by NASA's shift to human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
NASA is working out the procedures it will need if it has to conduct a "launch on need" rescue mission to retrieve the crew of shuttle Discovery when it performs the final Hubble servicing mission in the spring of 2008.
