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.
Late this month the Air Force will meet with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., to discuss how "lean" industry principles can be applied to the service's acquisition process. The goal is to create a "value stream map" of the Air Force's entire acquisition enterprise. Value Stream Mapping involves drawing a visual representation of every process in a manufacturing line to identify and eliminate sources of waste.
The long-delayed dual launch of NASA's CloudSat and CALIPSO spacecraft is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 26 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., following two higher-priority National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft that are scheduled to lift off first. Originally CloudSat/CALIPSO was to launch in 2003. Most of the delay sprang from technical problems with both spacecraft, according to NASA officials. They were finally shipped to Vandenberg in April and May, and would have launched in July but were bumped to make way for other flights.
Two weeks before Hurricane Katrina, Northrop Grumman studied a hypothetical scenario in which one of the company's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles was deployed from Edwards Air Force Base in California to assist with disaster relief following a powerful hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast of the United States.
