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.
GREENBELT, Md. - Before the end of spring, NASA plans to select the sequence of robotic orbiters and landers it will send to the moon to pave the way for astronauts to return by 2020. The Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) will mark the first spacecraft launches directly supporting NASA's new vision for space exploration. Starting with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in 2008, NASA expects to launch roughly one robotic lunar mission each year, all to be managed by Goddard Space Flight Center here.
Boeing is distancing itself from a news story last week in which a company executive was reported as saying the Delta IV expendable rocket could be reintroduced into the commercial market as early as the end of this year.
In a bid to give future Mars aircraft mission proposals a better chance of winning funding, NASA's aeronautics mission directorate is backing an effort at Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., to refine the necessary flight hardware and avionics.
