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 James Webb Space Telescope industry team has finished the first major step in building the telescope's primary mirror, although the future of the observatory remains in doubt as NASA grapples with how to rein in an estimated $1 billion cost overrun on the project, budgeted at $3.5 billion.
NASA's Mars Scout program is seeking more money in its fiscal 2007 budget request to allow for the per-mission cost cap to be raised from its original level of $325 million to a level above $400 million. "I've recognized that that is an inadequate amount of money to get a reasonable-risk mission to Mars," Mars Exploration Program Director Doug McCuistion told The DAILY. "It's just not as cheap as flying low-Earth orbit stuff. And therefore I intend to increase the cap over what it was."
Given the need to further modify the space shuttle's external tank to eliminate sources of foam debris, NASA announced it will not be able to launch STS-121 until next March at the earliest. NASA is skipping launch opportunities in September, November and January to provide the necessary time for tank repairs. The new planning date for the flight is March 4, 2006, according to Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's newly appointed associate administrator for Space Operations.
