Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 12, 2013

B3

The World Around Us

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 12, 2013 


JUNO SPACECRAFT SLINGSHOTS PAST EARTH EN ROUTE TO JUPITER


On Oct. 9, NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft made a quick pass 
by Earth to get a gravity boost and slingshot the probe towards its 
destination. The time of closest approach was 12:21 p.m. PDT, when 
Juno passed about 350 miles over South Africa.

As the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter grabbed most of the 
mass leftover after the Sun formed. Dr. Scott Bolton of Southwest 
Research Institute is the Juno principal investigator, leading an 
international science team seeking to answer some fundamental 
questions about the gas giant and, in turn, about the processes that 
led to the formation of our solar system. Jupiter is in the outer solar 
system, about five times as far away from the Sun as Earth.

“Juno is a large, massive spacecraft,” said Bolton. The spacecraft has 
three large solar panels, measuring 9 by 29 feet, and a titanium vault 
to protect sensitive electronics from the harsh environment around 
Jupiter. “Even a large rocket couldn’t provide enough propulsion 
to get us all the way to Jupiter, so we are flying by the Earth for a 
gravity-assist that will provide about 70 percent of the initial boost 
provided by the Atlas V 551 rocket. The gravity assist essentially 
provides as much propulsion as second rocket launch.”

The Juno spacecraft was launched toward Jupiter from Kennedy 
Space Center on August 5, 2011. The rocket provided Juno enough 
speed to reach the asteroid belt, at which point the Sun’s gravity 
pulled it back toward the inner solar system. The Earth flyby gravity 
assist increases the spacecraft’s speed relative to the Sun from 78,000 
miles (126,000 kilometers) per hour to 87,000 miles (140,000 
kilometers) per hour.

“While we are primarily using Earth as a means to get us to Jupiter, 
the flight team is also going to check and calibrate Juno’s science 
instruments,” said Bolton. “As another bonus, Juno is approaching 
the Earth from deep space, from the Sunlit side. Juno will take never-
before-seen images of the Earth-Moon system, giving us a chance 
to see what we look like from Mars or Jupiter. We plan to release a 
movie of this unique perspective of the Earth-Moon system shortly after the flyby.”

Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Once in orbit around Jupiter, the spacecraft will circle the planet 33 times, from pole to pole, and use its collection of nine science instruments to probe beneath the 
gas giant’s obscuring cloud cover. Juno’s science team will learn about Jupiter’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere, and look for a potential planetary core.

SwRI also provided two science instruments for the mission, the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) and the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE). UVS will image and measure the Jovian aurora’s 
ultraviolet emissions. JADE will measure the auroral electron and ion populations along the planet’s magnetic field lines and determine which particle populations create the Jovian aurora.

Named for the mythological wife of the god Jupiter, who used her special powers to discover the secrets Jupiter was hiding behind cloud cover, the Juno spacecraft will probe the mysteries beneath Jupiter’s 
surface to understand its structure and history. Jupiter’s giant mass has preserved its original composition, perhaps providing a “Rosetta Stone” to explain more about the rest of the solar system as well.

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.

Image Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI

On Oct. 9, 2013, the Juno spacecraft will fly past the Earth for a gravity assist-boost that will slingshot the probe onward to 
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. 

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS


IT’S ALL ABOUT APPROVAL


I was at the market the 
other day looking for a 
hair product. I didn’t know 
the brand or name of the 
product. I only knew the 
color of the bottle. If the 
manufacturer changes their colors, I’ll never be 
able to find it. My point is that consistent use 
of colors in all your products and marketing 
materials (on and off line) is important. We 
recognize a business and products by their 
colors. 

If the colors of your logo are blue and green 
and a splash of gray, why would you send out 
an email campaign that is pink and orange. It’s 
fun to play with colors and we certainly have 
lots of tools that allow us to change things, but 
having a consistent, recognizable look for all 
your material is a best practice. 

Many of the big brands depend on color 
for instant recognition. Think of Target, 
McDonalds, CocaCola, Pepsi, AT&T and UPS. 
I bet you can easily associate a color with all of 
them. 

You want to make sure your on-line footprint 
looks like you. Can people identify you by your 
colors? Of course, add some orange during 
the Halloween season, just make sure that it is 
secondary to your brand colors.

According to a study conducted by the 
University of Loyola, Maryland, color increases 
brand recognition by up to 80 percent. Be 
consistent, even when you are tempted to pull 
a 360.

Write down what’s called the RGB (red, green, 
blue) value of your colors and the HEX values. 
If you know these numbers it will make it easy 
when you create your on-line marketing pieces 
or directing others when they are building your 
web site, email campaigns and Facebook pages.

To find out your RGB and HEX color numbers, 
you can use a free tool called Color Cop 
(colorcop.net) for Windows users. If you are on 
a Mac, go to your utilities and select “Digital 
Color Meter.”

About MJ: MJ and her brother David own HUTdogs, a 
creative services business that specializes in Internet 
Marketing strategies. They are known for providing 
valuable information at their Social Media and Email 
Marketing classes. “Like” them on Facebook for 
trending news in social media, internet marketing and 
other helpful tips, www.facebook.com/hutdogs.

Sign up for their upcoming classes and presentations 
at: www.hutdogs.com/workshops/schedule 

These days, a buyer's biggest concern shouldn't be so much about finding the lowest interest rate, but 
finding a lender who will approve their application. There are three basic types of mortgage providers, 
each regulated by a different agency, and following different disclosure laws.

Banks: generally employ their own underwriters and provide loans with their own money. They 
often have mortgage products matched to particular situations, such as manufactured homes or new 
construction. Minimum credit score requirements will vary from bank to bank.

Brokers: work on a commission and make a little more than bankers, but their business is highly 
regulated and transparent. They prepare your application file and present it to banks or investors. 
Involving a third party can take more time, of course, and since they have higher credit score requirements 
and fees, don't shop at a broker if your score is below 620.

Correspondents: draw from their own credit lines and sell your mortgage shortly before closing. 
Since their ability to lend depends on their own credit, it's possible for closing to be delayed if they 
are processing more loans than they have funds to cover. That doesn't mean you can't still get good 
terms, however.

You need to assess your financial position and your needs, and speak with your real estate agent 
about which type of lender best suits your situation.