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 sign of trouble before NASA's Helios solar-electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the ocean off Kauai, Hawaii, June 26 was a "severe" oscillation in pitch that had never been observed before, according to Helios Program Manager John Del Frate. "We see little minor oscillations, but nothing that's undamped," Del Frate told The DAILY in a telephone interview. "It sustained some pretty severe damage." All other indications up to that point had been nominal, he said.
WHITE HOUSE WANTS 'MARINE ONE' REPLACEMENT PROGRAM ON FAST TRACK - U.S. Naval Air Systems Command's (NAVAIR) effort to develop a replacement presidential helicopter is heating up following a White House request to accelerate the introduction of the aircraft to 2007. NAVAIR released a broad agency announcement calling for designs for the new Vertical Lift Aircraft (VXX) in January. The VXX would replace the VH-3D Sea King helicopter, which was derived from the Sikorsky S-61 and first flown nearly 40 years ago.
Scaled Composites has filed an application with the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, known as AST, to obtain a launch license for the first suborbital space flight of SpaceShipOne. Company founder Burt Rutan said he still hopes his reusable spacecraft will not have to be licensed like a rocket.
