juno

Google and Microsoft continue their highly public patent-related catfight, which is either raising awareness of the issue of overbroad software patents or just turning into an embarrassing public battle that's making us all uncomfortable. Also, facial recognition is a trap, and security researchers are rushing to unveil the real Shady Rat. Plus: Computer Love!

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--A powerful United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket roared to life today and launched NASA's solar-powered Juno space probe on a five-year voyage to Jupiter, the first step in a $1.1 billion mission to look for clues about the origins of the solar system in the hidden heart of its largest planet.

"What we're really going after are some of the most fundamental questions of our solar system--how Jupiter formed, how it evolved, what really happened early in the solar system that eventually led to all of us and the terrestrial planets," said Scott Bolton, the principal investigator. "These are really basic questions: who are we, where did we come from, how did we get here?

"We're kind of going after this recipe of how planets are made. We're getting the ingredients of Jupiter, we're going to understand what the structure is like inside, how was it built, and that will give us guidance as to what happened in that early time that eventually led to us."

The towering 197-foot-tall Atlas 5, equipped with five solid-fuel strap-on boosters for extra power, ignited with a ground-shaking roar at 12:25 p.m. EDT, generating 2.5 million pounds of thrust and instantly pushing the spacecraft away from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was only the second launch of a five strap-on Atlas 5, the most powerful version offered by United Launch Alliance.

Liftoff was delayed 51 minutes to resolve two technical issues and to make sure a boat that strayed into the launch danger zone cleared the area.

Climbing away atop a brilliant plume of fiery exhaust, the rocket accelerated through the sound barrier 34 seconds after liftoff, arcing away to the east and putting on a spectacular lunchtime show for tourists and area residents. The strap-on boosters burned out and peeled off about a minute later and the first stage shut down and fell away as planned four and a half minutes after launch.

The rocket's hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage then carried out a six-minute burn to boost the spacecraft into a temporary parking orbit. A second nine-minute Centaur firing 31 minutes later accelerated Juno to 25,000 mph, or 7 miles per second--interplanetary escape velocity--and three minutes later, the 4-ton spacecraft separated from the Centaur to fly on its own.… Read more

NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft, the centerpiece of a $1.1 billion mission to Jupiter, was mounted atop an Atlas 5 rocket today, setting the stage for launch August 5 on a five-year voyage to the solar system's largest planet.

Once in orbit around Jupiter's poles, Juno's instruments will precisely map the planet's gravitational and magnetic fields, probe its turbulent atmosphere and hidden interior and study the mechanisms responsible for its powerhouse auroras, the strongest in the solar system.

"Jupiter probably formed first, it's the largest of all the planets, in fact it's … Read more

If you're feeling a bit like George Costanza in the Seinfeld episode "The Wallet," chances are you have a few too many scraps and cards stuffed into your carryall. Luckily, we live in the digital age, where much of the information you need to keep on your person can be stored in your mobile phone. For example, for those of us who cart around a cadre of gift cards from various establishments, JunoWallet provides an app for that.

On the surface, JunoWallet is a pretty simple iOS app that serves to securely store the numbers and pins … Read more

Boost Mobile released the Sanyo Juno Tuesday, and if you think it looks familiar, that's because it's essentially a rebranding of the Sanyo SCP-2700.

The SCP-2700 is from Sprint, so we suppose it only makes sense that the company's prepaid arm would offer the same handsets. As you would expect, the Juno is unchanged from the original--it's a slate-style messaging handset with a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and not much else--but at least it's only $99.99 without a contract.

This catchy tune reminds me of one of the pop songs from the soundtrack of the hit movie "Juno." The two-minute jingle praises the Chevy Volt singing: "Volt could change the world someday." The video features pictures of various General Motors executives and President Barack Obama to push a "hope for the future" message.

The battery-powered Volt travels 40 miles on a single charge. After that, a range extending gas generator kicks in, letting the car travel hundreds of miles on a single tank of gas.

Fans of the planet Jupiter have something new to get excited about.

On Monday, NASA announced that it is planning to launch a mission, titled Juno, to conduct a large-scale survey of our solar system's biggest planet.

According to NASA, the new mission will involve an unmanned spacecraft that is planned for an August 2011 launch onboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It is expected that the rocket will reach its destination, orbit around Jupiter, in 2016.

Once there, the plan is for the spacecraft to orbit Jupiter 32 times over the course of a year at … Read more

Natali Del Conte, star of CNET's hit show Loaded, joins the boys of the 404 to talk about Jeff's visit to see Shigeru Miyamoto, digital copy of Juno, and movies coming up this weekend.

Listen now: Download today's podcast