Orion

[JamesL]

Well I have to say good on NASA for pulling it off. And somehow comforting that all the tech reportage is in miles, Fahrenheit, etc.

On a personal note something of a fail. Poxy PC chose to buffer at T-20 seconds so missed the launch. And got in from the garden 10 minutes after splashdown so nothing to see but RIBs roaring round the pacific looking manly.

[Al]

Perhaps if things keep going well they will get to the moon this time

Al.

[Blackal]

Perhaps if things keep going well they will get to the moon this time

Al.

You're talking out Uranus..........

Al

[1200boxer]

Well I have to say good on NASA for pulling it off. And somehow comforting that all the tech reportage is in miles, Fahrenheit, etc.

On a personal note something of a fail. Poxy PC chose to buffer at T-20 seconds so missed the launch. And got in from the garden 10 minutes after splashdown so nothing to see but RIBs roaring round the pacific looking manly.

It's about time people start thinking metric.It's a much simpler and more rational system .The Uk has adopted the metric system since 1965 after all.Not a smooth process though.

[A.J.T]

Didn't NASA once crash a spacecraft into Mars because someone didn't know that meters and yards are different things?

All the science should be done in metric now, but if the engineering is imperial still, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[Corvus]

Didn't NASA once crash a spacecraft into Mars because someone didn't know that meters and yards are different things?
..........

Ha ha. If that's true it would be hilarious, were it not for the terrible waste of rocket fuel to get it there in the first place.

Didn't the "founding father" of America make a similar error, substituting the wrong distance units? Resulting in "crashing into" America. Should have listened to Eratosthenes.

Edit: you're right, calling Christopher Columbus the "founding father" of America (even in inverted comma's) is too much of a stretch. Sorry!

[The Teutonic Tangerine]

Didn't NASA once crash a spacecraft into Mars because someone didn't know that meters and yards are different things?

All the science should be done in metric now, but if the engineering is imperial still, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

No

a recipe for disaster is:


400 grams plain flour
three eggs
pinch of salt
40 grams yeast
250 grams weapons grade plutonium

method:
Reduce the plutonium to powder add to the other ingredients and mix together. Place in a microwave proof dish and cook on full power for 30 minutes.

[A.J.T]

I was almost right.

http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

[Corvus]

I was almost right.

http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

You were spot on. Interesting stuff. Ridiculous, embarrassing mistake! But in the grand scheme, nasa ain't done so bad. Saw a program last week on beeb4 about Russian cosmonauts, during the Cold War period. Amazing, brave men.

[Corvus]

Didn't NASA once crash a spacecraft into Mars because someone didn't know that meters and yards are different things?

All the science should be done in metric now, but if the engineering is imperial still, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

No

a recipe for disaster is:


400 grams plain flour
three eggs
pinch of salt
40 grams yeast
250 grams weapons grade plutonium

method:
Reduce the plutonium to powder add to the other ingredients and mix together. Place in a microwave proof dish and cook on full power for 30 minutes.

Good grief, you forgot the boron. What you trying to do? Kill us?

Add a few French fries. Bit o salt n vinegar. Got yo self some fission chips.