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.
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has successfully completed a set of rigorous actuator tests, which agency managers hope is a sign that the problem-plagued rover mission has finally turned a corner. “The great news last weekend is that the final actuator that we were having problems with has passed its two-times life test,” Associate Administrator for Science Ed Weiler said during a Space Foundation breakfast in Washington March 4. “So — knock wood — the actuator problem on MSL, which has been the biggest problem, seems to be behind us.”
A National Academies panel is recommending NASA beef up funding for its suborbital research program and assign a suborbital lead who would report to the agency’s associate administrator for science.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied a protest by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) over NASA’s choice to orbit its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft using rival Orbital Sciences’ Minotaur V rocket.
