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 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has decided to amend its policies to allow for expanded and more flexible use of its Earth observation satellites for homeland security, national security, law enforcement, and humanitarian operations. The new rules, announced in the Federal Register Aug. 1, revise 1998 regulations that govern the "non-environmental" use of data collection systems (DCS) on NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES).
The Department of Defense (DOD) has mismanaged pilot programs intended to help DOD labs and test centers tackle their business and human capital problems, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO). "If DOD intends to use the pilot programs to address laboratory and test center issues, it will have to address the factors - both process and statutory - that blunted previous proposals made through the pilot programs," GAO wrote in a report released July 29.
As plans for an international Earth observation system take shape, it's "highly likely" that NASA and other participating organizations will have to launch additional satellites to fill gaps in humanity's knowledge of the climate, according to NASA Associate Administrator for Earth Science Ghassem Asrar. "We know that there are some gaps," Asrar told The DAILY. "We know that space will offer solutions towards... eliminating those gaps."
