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.
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey probe successfully achieved orbit around the Red Planet Tuesday evening, marking the space agency's first success at Mars since the back-to-back losses of the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander in 1999. At an Oct. 23 press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., JPL Project Manager Matt Landano said he was "proud and happy" to report that after a 20-minute engine burn, the 1,598-pound Odyssey had been successfully captured into an elliptical, 19-hour orbit.
Although the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) isn't scheduled to be operational until the 2011-2012 timeframe, that date could - and should - be moved up three to five years, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile successfully intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile target at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Oct. 19, marking the end of the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase and giving the PAC-3 system an overall success rate of over 90 percent. The Patriot system engaged two BQM-74 cruise missiles - one flying at low altitude and one at a higher altitude. The PAC-3 missile was launched at the low-altitude target, and an additional PAC-2 missile successfully intercepted the high-altitude target.
