DYING COMET: Scientists at the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif., have used the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on board NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory to observe the final death throes of a comet as it passed about 0.2 solar radii off the limb of the Sun. The comet was first discovered July 4, 2011, using the Large Angle and Spectrometric Chronograph aboard the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and named C/2011 N3 (SOHO).

The demise of the Delta II rocket family and continuing uncertainty over the performance of newer small and medium-lift successors are forcing NASA to delay the allocation of launch vehicles to upcoming science missions.

PARIS — European Space Agency subsidies intended to offset high fixed costs incurred by the Arianespace commercial launch consortium could be unnecessary by decade’s end if ESA members agree to invest a little over €1 billion ($1.3 billion) to upgrade the Ariane 5 rocket, according to Astrium Chief Executive Francois Auque.

Boeing reports the fourth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) military communications satellite is “healthy and ready to begin orbital maneuvers and operational testing” following its Jan. 19 launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The 7,600-lb. spacecraft, based on a Boeing 702 platform, was lifted into orbit on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV in a Medium-plus configuration. It was ULA’s first launch of the year and the Delta IV’s 18th. Contact with it was made 58 min. after liftoff.

HOUSTON — NASA’s Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV), now in its third generation, is emerging from a five-year Johnson Space Center-led research and technology effort as a versatile component of still-forming U.S. human space exploration plans.

Controllers have restarted on-orbit checkout of the Npoess Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite, which was suspended last year after the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor begin losing sensitivity in four of its channels. The spacecraft originally was scheduled to become fully operational in December, but its commissioning was put on hold while the VIIRS problem was analyzed.

Republican members of Congress are bristling about the Obama administration’s decision to work with the European Union on an International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week announced that the U.S. would not sign on to an EU Code of Conduct but would continue to work with the EU to develop a broader international code.

OPEN SOURCE: NASA has unveiled an open-source development website that allows the public to “view and improve software source code,” the space agency says. The site, http://code.nasa.gov, is part of a White House open government initiative aimed at making the workings of federal agencies more transparent. The space agency uses open-source code for specific project and mission needs, to accelerate software development and to inform the public about its research.