5 ms·

People from the US use US measurements, surprisingly.

• meaty 14y ago
  Yes and look where that got you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter
  • InclinedPlane 14y ago
    Yes and also 4 rovers on Mars, and 12 astronauts on the Moon. The problem with the MCO disaster wasn't mixing up units, it was a sub-contractor failing to follow a specification properly, which can happen for any number of reasons. Also, it's not the only way that such missions can fail. Let us remember that since the mid-90s there have been 2 failed US Mars missions as well as a failed European mission (the Beagle 2 lander), a failed Japanese mission, and 2 failed Russian missions. As well as one and only one successful European mission and 8 successful US missions.
    • meaty 14y ago
      I agree it's not the only failure mode, but it certainly is the lamest so far.
    • flyinRyan 14y ago
      Any success the US had has nothing to do with using the obsolete Imperial system. Glad you were given the opportunity to do a little bit of "USA, USA, USA" fist pumping though.