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.
Aerospace Industries Association President and CEO John Douglass thinks there has been "spotty" progress in implementing the recommendations of the Aerospace Commission, which delivered its final report in late 2002, although he believes the commission has had a greater impact than most.
The Pentagon's 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) calls for a 15 percent increase in special operations forces in fiscal 2007, along with accelerated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) procurement to improve the military's persistent surveillance. This latest QDR, a congressionally mandated 20-year defense outlook, continues the Pentagon's increased emphasis on special operations forces (SOF) in the post-Cold War fight against global terrorism. The SOF budget has risen 81 percent since 2001, according to the QDR.
NASA's Ames Research Center is seeking industry's help to identify alternate heat shield materials that could protect the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) when it re-enters Earth's atmosphere following a mission to low Earth orbit. NASA and its CEV contractors already are working on the more advanced and robust heat shields that will be needed to protect the CEV when it re-enters following a trip to the moon. NASA plans to begin flying crew aboard the CEV by 2012 and return astronauts to the lunar surface in 2018.
