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  3. NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric

NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric

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  • K Kant

    The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

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    L Offline
    L Offline
    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #4

    Kant wrote:

    pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons.

    Shouldn't that be "the more widely adopted kilograms and meters"?

    ___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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    • K Kant

      The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

      రవికాంత్

      L Offline
      L Offline
      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #5

      The US is converting to the metric system... inch by inch.

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      • K Kant

        The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

        రవికాంత్

        M Offline
        M Offline
        Maximilien
        wrote on last edited by
        #6

        As big as it is, I'm quite surprise at the amount, I would have guessed more $$

        This signature was proudly tested on animals.

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        • P Pete OHanlon

          Kant wrote:

          currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons

          Ah - units for my generation. :-D

          "WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith

          As Braveheart once said, "You can take our freedom but you'll never take our Hobnobs!" - Martin Hughes.

          My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Onyx

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          martin_hughes
          wrote on last edited by
          #7

          Pete O'Hanlon: gentleman, scholar, chap from the north-east and advocate of funky-monkey measurement systems from the olden days! Bring back the Rood, Vigrate, Hide and Link!

          print "http://www.codeproject.com".toURL().text Ain't that Groovy?

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          • K Kant

            The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

            రవికాంత్

            J Offline
            J Offline
            Joe Woodbury
            wrote on last edited by
            #8

            Never understood why anyone cares. As long as you aren't mixing systems, either one works. "Oh, it's easier to convert..." Yeah, scientists are always doing complex calculations and conversions in their heads. Besides, knowing bureaucracies, some department somewhere wouldn't convert and the state of Florida would explode.

            Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke

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            • K Kant

              The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

              రవికాంత్

              S Offline
              S Offline
              swjam
              wrote on last edited by
              #9

              i'd be happy to convert it for half as much. i've done more horrible things for less, like code in VB6

              ---------------------------------------------------------- Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

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              • J Joe Woodbury

                Never understood why anyone cares. As long as you aren't mixing systems, either one works. "Oh, it's easier to convert..." Yeah, scientists are always doing complex calculations and conversions in their heads. Besides, knowing bureaucracies, some department somewhere wouldn't convert and the state of Florida would explode.

                Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke

                P Offline
                P Offline
                Parsley72
                wrote on last edited by
                #10

                Joe Woodbury wrote:

                As long as you aren't mixing systems, either one works.

                That's kind of the point - the Mars Climate Orbiter crashed because NASA use Imperial and the subcontractor used Metric: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter[^]

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                • P Parsley72

                  Joe Woodbury wrote:

                  As long as you aren't mixing systems, either one works.

                  That's kind of the point - the Mars Climate Orbiter crashed because NASA use Imperial and the subcontractor used Metric: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter[^]

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                  Pierre Leclercq
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #11

                  Yes, and they say project cost was $327.6 millions. So the lack of coherence hs already cost almost the $370 millions.

                  You can't turn lead into gold, unless you've built yourself a nuclear plant.

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                  • K Kant

                    The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

                    రవికాంత్

                    A Offline
                    A Offline
                    AmazingMo
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #12

                    Kant wrote:

                    the more widely adopted meters and newtons

                    ... or the even more widely adopted metres and newtons.

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                    • L Lost User

                      Kant wrote:

                      pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons.

                      Shouldn't that be "the more widely adopted kilograms and meters"?

                      ___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

                      A Offline
                      A Offline
                      Anton Afanasyev
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #13

                      _Maxxx_ wrote:

                      Kant wrote: pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. Shouldn't that be "the more widely adopted kilograms and meters"?

                      Something tells me that with the conversions like pounds=>meters, and feet=>newtons, its going to take a heck of a lot more than 370 million $.

                      During a lecture, a non-sleeping student is like a PC copying data from CD to HDD in DMA mode. That is, incoming data is written straight onto paper, bypassing the brain.

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                      • M Maximilien

                        As big as it is, I'm quite surprise at the amount, I would have guessed more $$

                        This signature was proudly tested on animals.

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                        tec goblin
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #14

                        Yes, I mean this type of amount seems a good investment to the future. An investment that will be paid off just from the fact that metric is way more simple, and is used by physicists etc.

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                        • J Joe Woodbury

                          Never understood why anyone cares. As long as you aren't mixing systems, either one works. "Oh, it's easier to convert..." Yeah, scientists are always doing complex calculations and conversions in their heads. Besides, knowing bureaucracies, some department somewhere wouldn't convert and the state of Florida would explode.

                          Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke

                          T Offline
                          T Offline
                          tec goblin
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #15

                          You just don't get how easier it is to convert. Even volume to weight in metric can be done in our heads, and IS done in our heads for simple things. And of course you're mixing things when you're reading for example an article or collaborate with someone who's not from the States.

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                          • L Lost User

                            Kant wrote:

                            pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons.

                            Shouldn't that be "the more widely adopted kilograms and meters"?

                            ___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

                            M Offline
                            M Offline
                            Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #16

                            Newtons and "pounds of thrust" are measurements of force. Technically, because a Newton is a measurement of force, you can use any weight measurement to convey the amount in weigh and indeed, 1N = 0.102kg Unless you're being sarcastic...

                            If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

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                            • J Joe Woodbury

                              Never understood why anyone cares. As long as you aren't mixing systems, either one works. "Oh, it's easier to convert..." Yeah, scientists are always doing complex calculations and conversions in their heads. Besides, knowing bureaucracies, some department somewhere wouldn't convert and the state of Florida would explode.

                              Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke

                              B Offline
                              B Offline
                              burningbeard
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #17

                              Joe Woodbury wrote:

                              ...and the state of Florida would explode.

                              And that would be a bad thing? :laugh:

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                              • L Lost User

                                The US is converting to the metric system... inch by inch.

                                M Offline
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                                Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #18

                                Now that's funny! :-D

                                If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

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                                • K Kant

                                  The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

                                  రవికాంత్

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                                  hairy_hats
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #19

                                  "Three nations have not officially adopted the International System of Units as their primary or sole system of measurement: Liberia, Myanmar and the United States."

                                  O 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • K Kant

                                    The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

                                    రవికాంత్

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                                    Chris Quinn
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #20

                                    It's not just conversion that costs - if you read Richard Feynman's account of the investigation of the Challenger shuttlke disaster, NASA turned down an eminently sensible suggestion from an engineer working on the solid rocket boosters to put four blobs of paint near the field joints to help them line up bolts more easily - it would have been too expensive - not for the paint, but to rewrite all of the manuals!

                                    ==================================== Transvestites - Roberts in Disguise! ====================================

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                                    • L Lost User

                                      The US is converting to the metric system... inch by inch.

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      Lost User
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #21

                                      :doh:

                                      Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.

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                                      • K Kant

                                        The shuttles that NASA uses to fly to space currently use measurements in the form of pounds and feet as opposed to the more widely adopted meters and newtons. The upcoming shuttle replacement will continue to use the imperial measurement system because it would cost NASA $370 million dollars to convert to the "'International System' of units". NASA: It would cost $370 million to convert to metric[^] :wtf: :omg: Read the comments in that post.

                                        రవికాంత్

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                                        kgrunwald
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #22

                                        And staying with the computers from the space shuttle will save the money for reprogramming everthing. IBM may be a bit short in supply, but if you bribe a bit, many things can happen. At least, you don't spend to much money on engineering and leave that budget intact. IMHO pairing with the ESA on the development of some space electronic building blocks would save a lot of money in the long run. For that, you have to use the metric system of course. But this would lead to competition on sub systems, which is not wanted by manufacturers of space equipment long expensed. No car manufacturer makes the elctronics these days. And for the mechanical parts: The german or japanese machines in the production line just need a firmware update and are ready for the metric system. America producers, would want to sell to the world can do this too. They just don't speak about it.

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                                        • M Mustafa Ismail Mustafa

                                          Newtons and "pounds of thrust" are measurements of force. Technically, because a Newton is a measurement of force, you can use any weight measurement to convey the amount in weigh and indeed, 1N = 0.102kg Unless you're being sarcastic...

                                          If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

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                                          Lost User
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #23

                                          Me? Sarcastic? I'd simply argue that Kilograms are more widely used than Newtons (when comparing Pounds) and (here I may be wrong) I feel the UOM for Pounds of Thrust is Pounds of thrust, and not Pounds. Also, they were in opposite orders (as someone pointed out above) Sarcastic? No. Pedantic? welll......

                                          ___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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