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.
WASTE NOT: NASA has given the Expedition 19 crew aboard the International Space Station the formal go-ahead to begin drinking the water from the station’s urine recycling system. Mission control in Houston radioed the good news to the crew May 20. The move is a key milestone toward supporting the six-person crew that will be occupying the orbiting outpost by the end of this month, and also will help reduce water transport requirements in the post-shuttle era.
Boeing has again asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate NASA’s award of the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) space segment prime contract to rival Lockheed Martin. Boeing originally protested Lockheed’s win of the weather satellite contract in December, but before GAO could complete its review process the agency elected to redo the source selection on its own.
CLEARED TO LAND: On-orbit inspections of the thermal protection system on Space Shuttle Atlantis revealed no problems that would preclude a safe re-entry and landing on the morning of May 22. The STS-125 crew performed end-of-mission inspections of the wing leading edges and nose cap on May 19 after releasing the Hubble Space Telescope following its final servicing, and NASA spent that night and the following morning reviewing the data.
