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.
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 (DAILY, Jan. 29). 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.
NASA has formed an investigation team to determine why the Helios solar-electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the Pacific Ocean 29 minutes into a routine flight at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii on the morning of June 26.
With all 10 of NASA's field centers now using the same core accounting system, the agency is turning its attention to promoting acceptance of the new system among potentially reluctant users. NASA began its Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP) last year to unify its field centers under the same accounting system. Two previous attempts to modernize the agency's bookkeeping were abandoned after 12 years and a reported expense of $180 million, according to the General Accounting Office.
