by expat » Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:42 am
But metre by metre our feet seem fated to lost in space...
Funny you should choose those words, H. I remember reading a few years ago about NASA losing a very expensive space probe because someone screwed up a metric to inches conversion.
I don't have the specifics on it right now, and I'm too tired to look it up. But I believe it was a probe destined for Mars orbit.
That is correct. CNN called them 'English' units of measurement. When I first heard, I thought the physics boffins were using metric and the engineers were using imperial. In reality, I think it was just one set of engineers using metric and the others using imperial.
I found the CNN article.
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/Not sure why they refer to "English units" when "American units" would be more appropriate.
I think it would be a case of dumbing down so that the masses understand. English units, should read as Imperial (I have never heard them called anything else), but would the average person (sorry read American, but present company at this website accepted) understand that coinage, I mean contrivance, sorry expedient, no, prerequisite or stipulation. However may be my most enthusiastic contrafribblarities and compunctiousness to have caused you such pericombobulation, I will leave before the pendigestatery interludicule to facilitate my velocitous extramuralisation
"A bit of a pickle" - British translation: A catastrophically bad situation with potentially fatal consequences.
PETA

People Eating Tasty Animals.
B1 (Cat C) licenced engineer, Boeing 737NG 600/700/800/900 Airbus A318/19/20/21 and Dash8 Q-400
1. Captain, if the problem is not entered into the technical logbook.........then the aircraft does not have a problem.
2. And, if you have time to write the fault on a napkin and attach to it to the yoke.........you have time to write it in the tech log....see point 1.