Joanne Le Bon in microgravity. (Credit: Steve Boxall)

As part of its gathering of future spaceflight participants in Mojave on Sept. 25, Virgin Galactic also scheduled a series of space-related events and activities throughout the week for those coming in from the four corners of the globe. These included an after party at the Endeavour exhibit in Los Angeles, centrifuge training at NASTAR in Pennsylvania, tours of the Mount Wilson Observatory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and microgravity parabolic rides aboard Zero Gravity Corporation’s G-FORCE ONE (above).

A press release from ZERO-G follows after the break.

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NASA’s LADEE spacecraft approaching lunar orbit. (Credit: NASA)

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 7, 2013 (Aerojet Rocketdyne PR) — Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, announced today that its 100-lbf High Performance Apogee Thruster (HiPAT™) bipropellant engine, integrated into a propulsion system built by Space Systems/Loral (SSL), enabled NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to achieve lunar orbit on Oct. 6.

Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin. (Credit: Roscosmos)

It looks like the end of the line for beleaguered Roscosmos chief Vladimor Popovkin, whose two-year reign over the Russian space agency has fallen victim to multiple launch failures and a major industry reorganization they spawned. ITAR-TASS reports:

The Kommersant daily has learnt that Russia’s presidential administration and the government have agreed on the candidates for the posts of the heads of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and the Unified Rocket and Space Corporation (ORKK). According to the newspaper’s sources, the first post of is to be taken by Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Ostapenko, the second by Director of the AvtoVAZ plant Igor Komarov. He will take charge of the country’s entire rocket and space industry and it is the ORKK head that will play a key role in the sector’s development. The current head of the Space Agency, Vladimir Popovkin, who insists on a different version of the Roskosmos reform, will be relieved of his duties….

The Roskosmos head’s resignation is likely to be announced officially as early as Tuesday, the newspaper believes.

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Kara Morgan, a sophomore majoring in aerospace engineering, examined a 3-D printed model of the Lunar Lion spacecraft. (Credit: Patrick Mansell)

by Bill Zimmerman

Penn State News

Through a recent agreement between the University’s Applied Research Laboratory and NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, students will be able to test bipropellant rocket thrusters powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen – the type that will play a crucial role in putting Penn State’s spacecraft on the moon’s surface in the race for Google Lunar X PRIZE.

For a group of some of the most involved Lunar Lion students, the rocket testing and the overall moon mission is infusing their studies with the sort of hands-on experience that peers at other institutions and even some aerospace workers can only dream about. The quest is keeping them at University Park year-round.

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A J-2X engine test firing on April 4, 2103, at Stennis Space Center. (Credit: NASA/SSC)

Aviation Week reports that the new upper stage J-2X engine will be mothballed next year after engineers complete its development and not put into use until NASA is ready to send humans to Mars, which probably won’t be until the late 2020’s at the earliest.

The engine, which NASA has spent $1.2 billion developing since 2007, is overpowered for the precursor human mission to asteroids and the moon the agency is likely to do in the interim.

An upgrade of the Saturn V upper-stage engine, the all-cryogenic J-2X generates 294,000 lb. of thrust with its gas-generator cycle. While it almost certainly will be needed to send men and women to Mars, the equally venerable RL-10 is beginning to look like a better power plant for the SLS upper stages that will be needed before that far-off mission.

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Space News has a bit more information about Orbital Sciences Corporation’s lawsuit against the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA).  Orbital purchased hardware from VCSFA after the authority ran into cost overruns and delays in building a new launch complex for the company’s Antares rocket. Orbital bought $42 million worth of hardware, with the understanding that Virginia would eventually buy these assets back, the complaint says. The state bought back […]

Sunjammer Mission Education Director Bryan Weber talks to students about the program. (Credit: Sunjammer Mission)

Tustin, Calif. (Sunjammer Mission PR) — Twelve students from Palm Middle School in Moreno Valley, Calif., joined the engineers and scientists at L’Garde, Inc. to present on solar sails and learn about NASA’s Sunjammer mission as part of its new Learning Center initiative, a program to engage students worldwide in the future of space travel.

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Space News reports on a modest budget boost for the French space agency CNES: The French Research Ministry on Sept. 26 said the French civil space budget in 2014 would slightly outpace the current low inflation rate, with a big increase in spending via the European Space Agency (ESA) offset by a decrease in France’s non-ESA-related programs. Presenting France’s overall 2014 research budget, the ministry said French spending at the […]

Washington D.C. (CSF PR) — On October 7th starting at 2pm ET, in the spirit of World Space Week, CSF President Michael Lopez-Alegria will answer questions in the popular interview series “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit, a site with 50 million visitors a month. AMA subjects have run the gamut from celebrities such as Woody Harrelson and Seth MacFarlane to political leaders such as President Obama. Community members are encouraged to submit any questions for Michael Lopez-Alegria regarding his career as an astronaut, his extensive time on the International Space Station, and his goals for the future of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Michael will begin answering questions live at 2pm ET at www.reddit.com/r/iAMA.

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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (TDY PR) – October 3, 2013 – Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) announced today that its subsidiary, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., in Huntsville, Ala., signed a memorandum of agreement with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for DLR to develop an instrument for Teledyne’s digital imaging platform, the Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) which will be mounted on the International Space Station.

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