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Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

cnet.com

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Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#51

Post by Loughla »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #44
melling wrote: post #22

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?

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.

Honestly. Communication is about clarity, not about arbitrary 'correctness' in word-choice. Put both so everyone can understand it.

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#52

Post by ldite »

cwilkes wrote: post #46
vvvv wrote: post #10

It bothers me (too much) that we are going to space and still using 'feet' as a unit of measurement.

https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/06/05/tucker-carlson... Tucker Carlson: God bless you, and that's exactly what it is. Esperanto died, but the metric system continues, this weird, utopian, inelegant creepy system that we alone have resisted.

...I had to look up Tucker Carlson to discover if this was satire or not.

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#53

Post by MisterTea »

magduf wrote: post #39
vvvv wrote: post #10

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.

Calm down. I clearly understood that as we humans, a collective whole.

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#54

Post by justin66 »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #40
magduf wrote: post #39

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.

You mean the British-built one? I think us Brits are the worst of the worst when it comes to mixing units. Fuel is sold in litres but consumption measured in miles per gallon. Milk is sold in 1 pint or 2/4/6 litre bottles. Road signs to towns are in miles but in roadworks are in metres. And so on.

> I think us Brits are the worst of the worst when it comes to mixing units.

McLaren recently failed to qualify for the Indy 500 (McLaren!) due in part to a unit conversion problem made prior to the last day of qualifying.

https://autoweek.com/article/indy-500/mclaren-ceo-zak-brown-...

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#56

Post by melling »

Loughla wrote: post #51
SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Honestly. Communication is about clarity, not about arbitrary 'correctness' in word-choice. Put both so everyone can understand it.

95% of the world officially uses metric.

https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/2cjiau/self...

Do they still teach the metric system in US schools? I learned it over 40 years ago. Metric is the official system for science.

It’s hard to believe that we’re so close but we still have holdouts. It’s not an arbitrary choice at this point.

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#57

Post by maxxxxx »

b_tterc_p wrote: post #37
maxxxxx wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should be happy that they don’t measure it in “baseball fields” or something like that. That’s how usually things are reported.

9 football teams stacked on top of each other

Somehow I was thinking about Shaquille O’Neal as the unit :)

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#59

Post by redler »

cryptonector wrote: post #41
ahoka wrote: post #33

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.

...the sad fact of which rears its head in American drinking establishments nationwide.

Re: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft grabs close-up thirty feet above asteroid

#60

Post by MS90 »

siffland wrote: post #43
Bjartr wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft grabs close-ups 30.5 light-nanoseconds above asteroid

Wonder how many stones the Hayabusa spacecraft weighs? Perhaps i will have the answer within a fortnight.

600kg is 94.48 stone
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