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.
Space experts disagreed on the value of the moon and Mars as destinations for astronauts during a panel in Washington Dec. 18, though all agreed that NASA needs a new destination to galvanize the country's human space flight program.
Boeing hopes to have an industry consortium on interoperable data standards for military systems up and running by next spring, according to Tip Slater, deputy director for Boeing's Strategic Architecture business unit.
NASA's X-37 program is preparing for the first drop tests of its atmospheric demonstrator vehicle starting next November, although funding constraints have prompted the agency to put the brakes on an orbital variant that was to have flown in late 2006. The unmanned X-37 vehicles are intended to demonstrate technologies for reusable spacecraft. The atmospheric version, called the Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV), is in assembly at prime contractor Boeing's facilities in Palmdale, Calif., according to Boeing X-37 Program Manager Paul Geery.
