61–70 of 98 posts
It bothers me (too much) that we are going to space and still using 'feet' as a unit of measurement.
Who's "we"? This article is about Japan. The Japanese do not ever use "feet" as a unit of measurement. It's only Americans who still use feet and other imperial units, which is why they lost a Mars probe.
(Part of the Mars orbiter fiasco was that it was being developed during the transition.)
Wonder what material that greyish rock looking stuff on the surface is.
Here's what it looks like when shot at with a "bullet"[0]. [0] https://www.cnet.com/videos/japans-hayabusa2-space-probe-fir...
Yup, and you break my ability to zoom in or right click and view image on mobile.
Welcome to the future.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We don't use the imperial system for space, but the American readers do. https://www.space.com/3332-nasa-finally-metric.html I'm just as guilty as the next person when I post numbers. Occasionally, I'll also show metric. However, as an old(er) dog, my first instinct is to use feet, miles, etc. Perhaps we should agree to use only the metric system on HN?
It's a mistake that sometimes even Americans do, but the USA uses the US customary units system, which is closely related, but slightly different to the British imperial system.
It bothers me (too much) that we are going to space and still using 'feet' as a unit of measurement.
It's funny how life fights with you though. My wife and I share a scale in the bathroom, it's a fitbit wifi thing and she finally laid down the law, it uses pounds now. Chasing 130lbs is somehow more satisfying than 58.9 or 59Kg. Our electronic outdoor thermometer is in Fahrenheit now too; this one sort of pisses me off, metric is simple, below 10 you need a coat, 10 to 20 probably want a light jacket, 30+ is shorts because it's hot. Mind you, she is an actual scientist, a real deal scientist that works on viruses and immunology, which is somewhat frustrating. You wouldn't believe the fit she had when our electronic human thermometer was found to be metric... When you call the doctor because your child has a fever, it is better to use whatever units the doctor uses.
I suspect that major new papers could probably start using metric units with translation in parens and only the wingnuts that think the papers already harbor a liberal bias would say anything about it. Other than temperature and like human height, you can toss out metric measurements to most folks when they ask something and they seem to absorb it well; from time to time you get a question or push-back, rarely I'll translate the unit for them. We're at the point where people just need to see it more. It would be an interesting experiment if some media organizations started to make metric more prominent. Hell the US military uses it, mostly for NATO reasons... we could probably somehow put a patriotic spin on it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a mistake that sometimes even Americans do, but the USA uses the US customary units system, which is closely related, but slightly different to the British imperial system.
Imperial pints are bigger than customary pints, for example.
It's not illegal to serve someone a "pint" if they ask for one, but it is illegal to offer a "pint" for sale.
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As a younger person who predominantly uses metric - as long as there's a conversion I don't see the issue. Just list both. I'm not sure why the sight of imperial units makes some people irrationally angry.
He’s probably referring to the time NASA lost the $125 million spacecraft because teams used different systems. https://www.wired.com/2010/11/1110mars-climate-observer-repo... It’s helpful when there’s only one system. In the US, it’s too costly to switch. HN readers are global and we’re technical so there’s no reason not to simply use metric.
What is the estimated cost out of curiosity?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Who's "we"? This article is about Japan. The Japanese do not ever use "feet" as a unit of measurement. It's only Americans who still use feet and other imperial units, which is why they lost a Mars probe.
And even then it's only the American public; NASA development is in metric. (Part of the Mars orbiter fiasco was that it was being developed during the transition.)