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 is keeping close watch on asteroid 2004 MN4, which Apollo 9 Astronaut Rusty Schweickart thinks has a remote chance of hitting the Earth in 2036, but agency officials don't feel at this point that placing a transponder on the asteroid for better tracking would be worth the expense.
NASA's Deep Impact team remains confident as the spacecraft nears its July 4 high-speed rendezvous with comet Tempel 1, despite a focus problem that is hampering the capability of its high-resolution camera. When it nears Tempel 1, the Deep Impact spacecraft will release an 820-pound guided penetrator on a collision course with it. The mothership spacecraft has three sensors to observe the effects of the collision: the High Resolution Instrument (HRI), a Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI) and a duplicate camera on the Impactor Targeting Sensor (ITS).
The Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group closed out four more shuttle safety recommendations during a meeting June 8, and anticipates closing out the remaining three recommendations and delivering a preliminary report to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin before the end of this month.
