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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum
GLD 422.21+1.9%4:00 PM EST
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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (51040)6/7/2009 5:22:44 AM
From: elmatador  Read Replies (2) of 219259
 
The metric/imperial mixup which destroyed the craft was caused by a software error back on Earth. The thrusters on the spacecraft which were intended to control its rate of rotation, were controlled by a computer which underestimated the effect of the thrusters by a factor of 4.45. This is the ratio between a pound force - the standard unit of force in the imperial system - and a newton, the standard unit in the metric system. The software was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft expected figures in newtons; 1 pound force equals approximately 4.45 newtons.
The software had been adapted from use on the earlier Mars Climate Orbiter, and was not adequately tested before launch. The navigation data provided by this software was also not cross-checked while in flight. The Mars Climate Orbiter thus drifted off course during its voyage and entered a much lower orbit than planned, and was destroyed by atmospheric friction.

The navigation error arose because a NASA subcontractor (Lockheed Martin) used Imperial units (pound-seconds) instead of the metric system. Following this incident, NASA reverted back to using Imperial units as their only system of measurement,[1] starting with the Mars Rovers in 2004.

Why metric is difficult to be grasped by an Anglo brain?
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