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 conducted a second fueling test of the shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 20, once again encountering an anomaly with a pressurization relief valve that opens and closes to ensure that the shuttle's liquid hydrogen fuel remains at the right temperature. During both the prior test on April 14 and the May 20 test, the valve cycled 13 times, compared with a more normal eight or nine times. Thirteen cycles does not violate the shuttle's launch commit criteria, but it is "out of family," according to shuttle officials.
Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart is calling on the U.S. government to verify his calculation that a recently discovered asteroid has a remote chance of striking the Pacific Ocean in 2036 and creating a tidal wave that could devastate the California coast.
Strict U.S. export regulations on sensitive aerospace technology are a serious obstacle to the development of the worldwide space tourism industry, according to Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan.
