Dear John, To add to your remarks, one of the fundamental equations in atomic bomb design is the Einstein equation:
E = mc^2 where energy (E) is calculated in joules from mass (m) in kilograms and the speed of light (c) in metres per second. I suppose it is possible to use this formula using old (foot-pound) units but I have never seen it done that way and I have never heard of anyone doing it that way. Cheers, Pat Naughtin CAMS Geelong, Australia on 2002-11-18 03.09, kilopascal at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > 2002-11-17 > > Actually this topic was discussed many times on this list. I will reiterate > my contribution for you. > > We got to the moon because of one man. That man was a German by the name of > Werner von Braun. Werner von Braun once stated that he loathed the American > measurements and never used them. He designed everything in metric. But, I > think he used the cgs subset. Still he conceived and calculated only in > metric units. But, as was the practice at the time, others working under him > converted his designs into FFU for manufacture. If it wasn't for von Braun, > there never would have been a trip to the moon. > > When von Braun retired and then died in 1977, NASA was run by others. Also, > as all of the old Peenem�nde Germans (do a google search to find out more > about Peenem�nde or see > http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/history/vonBraun/Visit/VILLAGE.HTML) who > came with him, also have retired and/or died off, NASA deteriorated into a > mess of mistakes and errors. > > Can't speak much for the A-bombs, but to my knowledge, the work was done > mostly in the US by Fermi. Being Italian born and educated he most likely > calculated in metric. Also, there are a lot of scientific units that do not > have FFU equivalents, so of course, SI has to be used. > > John > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Matthew Zotter > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Sunday, 2002-11-17 10:18 > Subject: [USMA:23414] A quote that I want to counter > > > 2002 NOV 17 SUN > > Once I ask someone, "Why don't we use SI?" > Response, "Inch pounds put an american on the moon and dropped the A-bomb on > Japan, so they're good enough for me." > > So does anybody know if the Apollo missions were done in SI or US Customary > Units? > I know that a lot of Nuclear research is done in SI, but was the Manhattan > project in SI? Was the first bomb made with is mix of SI and inches? > > Matthew Zotter
