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.
By dipping dramatically into the atmospheres of Venus and Mars en route, a future mission to Pluto could reduce its nominal travel time of 12-15 years down to 5-7, according to Richard Powell of NASA Langley Research Center. During this maneuver, known as aero-gravity assist, a vehicle approaching a planet on a hyperbolic trajectory uses atmospheric drag and propulsion to obtain a greater turning angle, enhancing the "sling-shot effect" that propels the spacecraft on to its destination.
The Army's network-centric Future Combat System (FCS) will be the "cornerstone" of the transformed Army, according to President Bush's nominee for assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, technology, and logistics (ATL). Answering questions before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington Dec. 4, Claude Bolton, an Air Force major general with over 32 years of active duty experience, said FCS will help make the Army "lighter, faster, and at least as lethal, if not more so," than it is today.
After selling its Electronics and Information Systems Group (EIS) to Northrop Grumman for $315 million (DAILY, Oct. 23), Aerojet is returning to its roots in rocket engines, with top executives seeing a bright future, particularly in military propulsion. "We came to the conclusion that we didn't have the mass to build both a defense electronics business and a business that was centered on propulsion," said Aerojet President Michael Martin.
