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 U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin conducted the first engineering development flight test (EDT) of a Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rocket Nov. 7 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Major test objectives included the successful launch of the missile from the canister, nominal motor performance, tail fin deployment and rotation, as well as telemetry, guidance and control system performance.
With chemical propulsion systems rapidly approaching the theoretical limits of their efficiency, NASA scientists are looking ahead to electric propulsion concepts to power long-duration interplanetary missions, where slow and steady acceleration wins the race. The basic principle of electric propulsion is identical to that of traditional chemical rockets, according to Les Johnson, manager of the in-space transportation investment area of NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP) at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Common standards will be essential if the remote sensing industry is to create comprehensive geospatial maps to aid in homeland defense and counter-terrorism, according to a panel of industry leaders speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington Nov. 8. "It used to be that a picture is worth a thousand words," said Leo Hazlewood, corporate vice president of SAIC Corp. "A fly-over is worth even more than that. Showing people the nature of the terrain they are attempting to monitor or protect makes an enormous impact."
