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Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. For press releases and such, however, it's worth remembering that the primary audience is the American pub

Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. For press releases and such, however, it's worth remembering that the primary audience is the American public, and said public - for better or worse - uses those antiquated units.

chrononaut 6y ago
In addition, when other partners / contractors have failed to use metric when expected, it has caused some grave mission failures! > The spacecraft encountered Mars on a trajectory that brought it too close to the planet, and it was either destroyed in the atmosphere or escaped the planet's vicinity and entered an orbit around the sun.[2] An investigation attributed the failure to a measurement mismatch between two software systems: metric units by NASA and non-metric ("English") units by spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_...
aerothrowaway 6y ago
>Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. This isn't true at all, lol. Aerospace in the US has used 'english' measurement from the start. My take on the matter is that all units are arbitrarily defined and flip flopping the units that we already use is a silly idea of progress.
- jvanderbot 6y ago
  Someone has to flip flop when nations come together to build stuff.
- marsokod 6y ago
  While on the temperature side, I would agree with you (though ideally you would want something that starts at 0 like Kelvin), this is different on the distance and weigh side. The strength of the metric system is not on the particular dimension of their definition, but lies in the use of a decimal system. That is what makes it superior to the old imperial system and why the scientific community in the US uses it. Using a single base system for all your numbers, and the same base system as the one used in your numbering systems is the only way you can do complex computations without resorting to many magic numbers.

chrononaut 6y ago

In addition, when other partners / contractors have failed to use metric when expected, it has caused some grave mission failures! > The spacecraft encountered Mars on a trajectory that brought it too close to the planet, and it was either destroyed in the atmosphere or escaped the planet's vicinity and entered an orbit around the sun.[2] An investigation attributed the failure to a measurement mismatch between two software systems: metric units by NASA and non-metric ("English") units by spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_...

aerothrowaway 6y ago

>Behind the scenes, they're very likely using metric. This isn't true at all, lol. Aerospace in the US has used 'english' measurement from the start. My take on the matter is that all units are arbitrarily defined and flip flopping the units that we already use is a silly idea of progress.

jvanderbot 6y ago
Someone has to flip flop when nations come together to build stuff.
marsokod 6y ago
While on the temperature side, I would agree with you (though ideally you would want something that starts at 0 like Kelvin), this is different on the distance and weigh side. The strength of the metric system is not on the particular dimension of their definition, but lies in the use of a decimal system. That is what makes it superior to the old imperial system and why the scientific community in the US uses it. Using a single base system for all your numbers, and the same base system as the one used in your numbering systems is the only way you can do complex computations without resorting to many magic numbers.