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.
Thales Alenia Space executives say they see limited commercial interest to date in active telecom antennas such as one being developed for Hispasat AG1, planned to go into orbit in 2012 as the first application of the European Space Agency’s SmallGeo telecom satellite program. However, they anticipate considerable demand from military users, for whom heightened flexibility and security can largely offset lower antenna efficiency.
NASA scientists are still analyzing data from the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensor Satellite (Lcross) impact at the Moon’s south pole on Oct. 9, but it turns out that the European Space Agency’s Smart-1 lunar orbiter apparently produced a bigger plume than its larger NASA cousin when it plowed into the lunar surface. The angle of incidence seems to be the reason, says Bernard Foing, ESA’s Smart-1 project scientist. While Lcross hit the bottom of the Cabeus crater at the Moon’s south pole at a relatively steep angle, Smart-1 came in at a shallow angle and bounced.
An astronaut, a cosmonaut and a circus clown returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) early Oct. 11, capping a standard ISS tour for the two spaceflight professionals and what may be the last space tourist flight for awhile. Canadian Guy Laliberte, the billionaire founder of Cirque du Soleil, joined Russia’s Gennady Padalka, outgoing commander of ISS Expedition 20, and Expedition 20 flight engineer Michael Barratt of NASA in the landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Their Soyuz TMA‑14 touched down at 12:32 a.m. EDT, after a nominal return from the ISS.
