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 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking congressional approval to make permanent the prize authority under which it offered the Grand Challenge program, according to Director Tony Tether. The authorization is slated to expire in 2008. Although Tether expects there will be similar Grand Challenge-type programs mounted at DARPA before the decade is out, there is nothing on the immediate horizon.
Officials with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Stanford Racing Team's autonomous ground vehicle "Stanley" credit its winning performance in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge to its onboard software. The Stanford University team, with participation from Volkswagen, won the $2 million prize Oct. 8 by finishing the rugged 132-mile course through the Mojave Desert in six hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds at an average speed of 19.1 mph. Stanford did not participate in the first Grand Challenge race in 2004.
The Boeing Delta IV team preparing to launch a National Reconnaissance Office satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is waiting to hear from the NRO whether or not to de-stack the rocket to avoid a potential fly-over concern during an upcoming Lockheed Martin Titan IV launch. The Titan IV, carrying another NRO satellite, will follow a flight path that takes it over the Delta IV's launch pad, raising the possibility that a Titan launch failure could rain debris down on the Delta IV with the satellite sitting on top of it.
