Given the rut in which the U.S. aerospace industry toils, the Gravity Probe B spacecraft may well have been designed and built using IFP (everything except the instruments themselves). -- Jason
----- Original Message ----- From: Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 3:57 PM Subject: [USMA:29545] NASA is at it again > Dear All, > > Over the last few days, I have been hearing excitedly breathless reports > about the 'Gravity Probe B' space mission. Sadly, all of the data I heard on > radio was in old inch-foot-pound measures. > > For example: > . the craft is to fly at 400 miles high > . the gyroscope sphere was to be an almost perfect 1.5 inches diameter > (when it wasn't 'about the size of a golf ball) > . if the gyroscope was expanded to the size of the Earth its biggest bulge > would be 8 feet > . the Dewar flask to contain the science module is 9 feet tall > . the Dewar flask holds 645 gallons of superfluid liquid helium > > I suspected that the radio stations were simply reporting directly from a > NASA site, and sure enough, I found it at: > > <http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/f_gpb-parts.html> > > It amused me somewhat to see this line: > > 'If Albert Einstein were alive today he'd be relaxing in his easy chair, > pipe in hand, very calmly awaiting the results of this historic mission and > probably marvelling at the technology it takes to probe his 89 year-old > theory'. > > Perhaps, what they meant to say was: > > 'If Albert Einstein were alive today he'd be "frantically worrying " while > . . . awaiting the results "(he couldn't possibly know who was doing what > conversions, from what old measures, with what conversion factors, and with > what errors)" of this historic mission and probably marvelling at the > technology "(at least wondering how NASA could possibly produce such > advanced technology when they are clearly dedicated to the encouragement of > seriously old and proven difficult-to-use measures)" it takes to probe his > 89 year-old theory'. > > Let us hope that the remaining components of this mission aren't equally > suffering from the same mish-mash of old and new measuring units that led to > the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter. > > I can only hope for the best for this extremely important mission, as quiet > confidence in sound technology, well-applied, is clearly out of order given > the above context. > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > Geelong, Australia > -- >
