The first of two NASA rovers is safely on its way to Mars, but...

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From: Gene Nygaard
GN
Subject: The first of two NASA rovers is safely on its way to Mars, but...
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Organization: http://www.randori.com
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Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 03:38:55 GMT
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GN When NASA measures vertical distance to the space station in miles
GN (something nobody else in aviation uses for vertical distances), these
GN are often converted by the PR people--but not to metric units, only to
GN a different Fred Flintstone unit that shares the same name. Of
GN course, neither branch of NASA routinely identifies which of those
GN miles they are using. If a conversion to metric units is given, then
GN you can figure out what the person doing that particular conversion
GN believed them to be--but can you really trust that the person doing
GN the metric conversion knew, when the original miles are not
GN specificially identified?

NASA makes a LOT! of videos on the space program. The ones aired
or screened in the US prevalently have the 'Gred Flintstone' system
with inches and feets and miles and poundes. What's in NASA films and
tapes sent overseas? Is there an 'overseas' edition with metrics?

---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P005004

John Oliver wrote in
news:ZZOSa.4600$If5.2203@lakeread06:

Some years ago the Federal highway people thought it would be a
good idea to post speed limits in both english and metric units
(auto speedometers had begun to display both). This went on for a
few years and then congress essentially told them that if they want
to be funded in yankee dollars they should stop those foreign (I
think they said "furrin") language signs. They did. The same
thing happened to the weather folks when they started adding
Celsius temperatures to their forecasts.

I have some mildly schizoid behaviour with regard to systems of units.
I deal in SI units all day, as a chemist and I think reasonably
fluently in a fair range of systems of units. However, when it comes
to temperature, context takes over. I have no idea what -10 C feels,
without converting to Fahrenheit. I have experienced that temperature
only in the US, where the experience was filed away with the
Fahrenheit temperature from US news. In the same way, I have to
convert before I understand what 120 F feels like, since I have
experienced that only in the mostly Celsius environment of India.

For temperatures outside the range of personal sensory epxerience I
think in Celsius.

One of the more interesting things I have heard on this subject was a
comment from a baseball commentator. He said, on the air, something to
the effect: "The metric system is stupid. Just think what it would be
like to talk about baseball in metric terms. Someone hits a 440 foot
home run and what are we supposed to say? It's gone, a 131.1 m home
run?"

That's how I learned that baseball players hit home runs specifically
by the foot.

- Shankar