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.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $16.757 billion fiscal 2007 spending bill for NASA July 13 that included an amendment to add another $1 billion in extra funding to help cover the agency's costs in recovering from the 2003 Columbia accident. The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), is classified as an emergency appropriation that doesn't have to be offset within the larger $51 billion commerce/justice/science spending bill that NASA is part of.
Northrop Grumman has unveiled its new Skyguard laser defense system, a high-energy chemical laser designed to protect against rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats that the company hopes to market both to the military and to the Homeland Security Department to protect commercial airliners.
Members of a National Academies' panel questioned NASA's science plans during a meeting in Washington July 11, with panel chair and former Lockheed Martin executive A. Thomas Young suggesting that the agency's goals may not be realistic given the cuts to science in NASA's FY '07 budget request.
