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.
As the Expedition Four crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) enters its second month, crewmembers are in final preparations for their first extravehicular activity (EVA), scheduled for Monday, Jan. 14. Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Carl Walz will conduct the EVA. The crew may perform up to four spacewalks in support of station assembly during their time in orbit.
After breaking altitude records last year, NASA's Helios solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is back in storage awaiting its chance to demonstrate the other goal of the program - endurance. During a 17-hour flight last August, Helios took off from the Hawaiian island of Kauai and climbed to 96,500 feet, making it the highest-flying non-rocket powered aircraft (DAILY, Aug. 15, 2001).
Although virtually all of the third-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) concepts currently being considered by NASA rely on some form of combined-cycle propulsion to get to orbit, the space agency is still not insisting on single-stage vehicles. NASA's last big push on single-stage-to-orbit space transportation was the X-33 program, which was abandoned last year due to cost overruns and schedule slips (DAILY, Mar. 2, 2001). NASA and partner Lockheed Martin Corp. spent five years and nearly $1 billion on the ill-fated project.
