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 first aerospace prizes in NASA's Centennial Challenges program could be announced as early as this month, according to Program Manager Brant Sponberg. Modeled on 19th century navigation prizes and early 20th century aviation prizes, the Centennial Challenges program is aimed at stimulating industry to produce breakthroughs in technologies that support NASA's goals. The agency requested $20 million for the program in fiscal year 2005, but only received half that amount from Congress.
NASA is making progress in reforming its financial management and has begun a get-well plan called "Operation Clean Opinion" to set the agency back on the road to clean budget audits, according to Chief Financial Officer Gwendolyn Sykes. The plan addresses organizational weaknesses identified by auditors, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the NASA inspector general and internal reviews, Sykes said. Despite its name, it doesn't focus exclusively on audits, she said.
NASA on March 1 issued the final request for proposals (RFP) for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which answers a number of questions raised by industry in response to an earlier draft and sets a deadline of May 2 for proposal submission.
