Juno

Juno is the name of a new spacecraft which has been sent to the space to conduct an in depth study of Jupiter, the massive planet in our solar system.

Things to know about Juno

              ·        Spacecraft launched August 5, 2011

                   ·       Five-year cruise to Jupiter, arriving in July 2016

                   ·        Spacecraft will orbit Jupiter for about one  year

                              (33 orbits)

                   ·        Mission ends with de-orbit into Jupiter  

Juno will improve our understanding of our solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter. 

Specifically, Juno will…

·         Determine how much water is in Jupiter’s atmosphere, which helps determine which planet formation theory is correct(or if new theories are needed)

·         Look deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere to measure composition, temperature, cloud motions and other properties

·         Map Jupiter’s magnetic and gravity fields, revealing the planet’s deep structure

·         Explore and study Jupiter’s magnetosphere near the planet’s poles, especially the auroras(Jupiter’s northern and southern lights) providing new insights about how the planet’s enormous magnetic force field affects its atmosphere.

Engineers have received communications from the Juno spacecraft, and its solar arrays have deployed. 

 NASA's Juno spacecraft has successfully separated from the Centaur upper stage of its Atlas V rocket. It is on its way to Jupiter. 

 The rocket nose cone, or fairing, carrying NASA's Juno spacecraft has been jettisoned as planned. 

 NASA's Juno spacecraft, headed to Jupiter, has lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Here is a timeline of expected launch milestones:

Launch 
Right after launch, the rocket will be airborne, carrying Juno up and over the Atlantic Ocean.

Solid rocket motors jettisoned -- occurs at about launch plus 106 seconds 
The five solid rocket motors that have been providing some extra "get-up-and-go" for Juno's Atlas will complete their burn and be "stagger jettisoned." First, solids 1 and 2 separate from the rocket, followed 1.5 seconds later by solids 3, 4 and 5.

Fairing and stages separate -- occurs at about launch plus 4 minutes, 45 seconds 
The Atlas's 68-footlong (21-meter-long) nose cone, or fairing, will separate and be jettisoned as planned, providing Juno and its Centaur upper stage with their first taste of exo-atmospheric existence. The Atlas V's 106.6 foot-long (33-meter-long) first-stage will have completed its tour of duty. The Centaur upper stage, which will provide the final kick for Juno, will begin the first of two scheduled burns.

Parking at 17,500 miles per hour -- occurs at about launch plus 10 minutes, 45 seconds 
The Centaur upper stage will temporarily stop firing, as planned, and the rocket and Juno will begin a planned 30-minute coast phase, also known as a "parking orbit."

Centaur burns for Jupiter -- occurs at about launch plus 41 minutes, 33 seconds 
The Atlas V's Centaur upper stage will begin a second burn. This approximately nine-minute-long burn will place Juno on its desired trajectory.

Spacecraft separates from Centaur -- occurs at about launch plus 56 minutes 
The Juno spacecraft will separate from the Centaur upper stage of its Atlas V rocket. At this point, Jupiter will be five years and 1,740 million miles (2,800 million kilometers) away.

For more details visit the following links:

http://missionjuno.swri.edu/

http://science1.nasa.gov/missions/juno/

Prince Harry's dream

Prince Harry

Prince Harry inside the helicopter

Prince Harry with Apache helicopter behind him

Prince Harry (the son of Princess Diana) is apparently planning to be the first royal to go into space and even wants to enter NASA space training.

The Prince, 26, is a secret ‘Star Trek’ fan and “obsessed with space”, according to friends.

They say he has already asked British business magnate Sir Richard Branson’s son Sam for a seat on one of the first Virgin Galactic sub-orbital flights.

And he wants to become an honorary member of the elite US space programme after returning from Afghanistan next year.

“Harry has already completed his studies of Land and Sea Surveillance and Oceanology – part of Astro training – and can’t wait to get into one of NASA’s T38 training jets,” the Sun quoted a royal source as saying.

“It’s his dream to be the first Royal in space. He’s been going on about this for months. A lot of people don’t know Harry is a Trekkie and has long harboured a desire to get into space.”

“His service with the Army Air Corps has been exemplary, which puts him in good stead. There’s no chance of him walking on the Moon, but he wants to train with NASA and is determined to get on a Virgin Galactic flight,” the source added.
But Clarence House said: “We are not officially aware of this.”

HARRY will need to meet these NASA requirements to become an astronaut:

GAIN a degree in engineering, bio science, physical science or maths. He may struggle, as he left Eton with A levels in art and geography.

PUT in 1,000 hours' jet aircraft pilot-in-command time. Test flight experience is considered desirable. No problem – Harry is described as a "natural pilot".

PASS a space physical, similar to military physical. Harry will easily make the grade, but he'll have to pack in the fags again.

For more stories visit the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Harry_of_Wales

http://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/08/06/harry-to-be-first-royal-to-travel-into-space/

NASA has launched Jupiter probe

NASA is headed back to the big planet, looking for the clues to help answer pressing questions about the early days of the solar system. Because whatever was in Jupiter at the beginning more than 4.5 billion years ago, when the solar system was formed — is still there, scientists say, hiding in a mysterious gas giant made up of dust and gas left over by the Sun.

A spacecraft named Juno (after Jupiter’s wife in Roman mythology) has lifted off on Friday morning from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, embarking on a five-year trip. On July 4, 2016, as determined by planetary mechanics, not American patriotism, Juno will pull into orbit around Jupiter and spend a year there, making scientific observations of gravity, magnetic fields and the wetness of the Jovian atmosphere.

And then scientists may learn more of the secrets of Jupiter, which has twice as much mass as the rest of the planets in the solar system combined.

Visit the links below for more stories:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)

http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/08/05/juno-and-jupiter-together-again/?mod=google_news_blog

Here is how heaven looks like

 What happens when you die? It is most certainly one of life's biggest questions.

Several near-death survivors have come forward to narrate what they had a glimpse of when they were in heaven.

Now, Don Piper, an ordained Baptist minister, who was once pronounced dead following a car accident, has shared his intriguing story.

He says he remembers music that was "beyond spectacular" and aromas he'd never smelled before. His grandfather was there to greet him warmly, as dozens of others who had died in years past stood before him in front of a magnificent gate, reports ABC News.

Piper, who insists it was no dream and visited heaven, has chronicled his experience in the New York Times bestseller, "90 Minutes in Heaven." "It was the most real thing that ever happened to me," he said.

There were lights reflecting off the gates, which looked like they were "pulsating with life. "That's because in heaven there is no artificial light, God illuminates it with his glory. In front of the gate stood his grandfather, welcoming him "home," he said.

"I was heartbroken when he died," he said. "Now I'm at the gates of heaven (and) he's the first person to greet me."

Piper, who was ordained in 1985, said he could not have imagined what he saw in heaven. "You know, if I was having a dream about it, this wouldn't be in it," he said. "Some of these people who met me at the gates, I haven't thought of in decades."

He believes he was sent back to spread a special message: "Heaven is a real place." (ANI)

Germany officials asked facebook to stop using the face recognition software

We all know that most of us want privacy in different situations especially when we’re online. So many people don’t want their identity to be uncovered when they’re online and that’s why in most of the social networks, online forums and in other websites which people can log in and have membership many people prefer to use different names. It is common to find a comment online from someone with a display name “thesuperman1” or “123be” or any other name which doesn’t look like a real name. All this is because we want privacy.

This week Germany officials have scolded facebook on privacy issues. The Germany officials said that facebook use face recognition software in a manner that violates German and European law. They asked Facebook to delete all the biometric data that they have collected.

"If the users' data falls into the wrong hands, it would be possible to compare and identify anybody captured in a photo taken with a mobile phone," Caspar told the Hamburger Abenblatt newspaper.

They programme allows Facebook users to locate new "Friends" after discovering their identity through a biometric data scan.

The programme tries to match data captured in a picture with the trove of data it has already collected from its hundreds of millions of users.

"This is what's most problematic. The programme feeds off a stock of data designed to physically identify millions of users," he said.

He further scolded Facebook for collecting and storing biometric data without users' consent, insisting the practice violates privacy laws.

Germany, which is considered a leader on Internet privacy issues, has criticised Google for its "Street View" programme, which makes street-level images freely available online.

German officials also previously urged Facebook to beef up its privacy protections, notably over its Friend Finder feature, which allowed the site to register or even import users' entire email address books without notifying them.

In January, Facebook agreed to inform its members that it had obtained email addresses in their accounts.

Facebook claims to have more than 750 million members.

For more story visit the following link:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390440,00.asp