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.
With the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group awaiting data from NASA that probably won't be available until mid-April, it now appears unlikely that the group will meet its original goal of delivering its final report one month before the space shuttle's next flight.
An FAA research and development (R&D) official is concerned about NASA's future commitment to aircraft safety and environmental mitigation R&D, given the agency's dwindling aeronautics budget over the next few years. According to Joan Bauerlein, FAA's director of air traffic organization operations planning R&D, one of her "major objectives" is to get FAA and NASA to collaborate more closely on R&D work.
NASA is working on a low-cost transceiver for launch vehicles that would allow them to relay telemetry to the ground through the agency's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).
