Following is a response I received inquiring about the possibility of
designing the Orion Spacecraft using SI measurements. It is followed
by my brief expression of regret with which I responded.
Bill Hooper
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On Sep 2 , at 1:20 PM, Hautaluoma, Grey (HQ-NB070) wrote:
Dr. Hooper:
The Constellation Program conducted an extensive and detailed effort
to implement a primary SI units based system for design, analysis,
test and operations while allowing English units for most of the
hardware. This effort looked at various implementation strategies
and worked the implementation details to the point of having
workable implementation plans in all the projects.
It was determined through this study that the cost estimates to
achieve these plans significantly exceeded the resources that could
be made available in the first critical years of the program when
the budget is constrained.
Note that currently the space shuttle and U.S. segments of the
International Space Station were built using the US customary units
of measure (also known as the English system of measurements.) These
and much of the Ares launch vehicle and Kennedy Space Center ground
systems that Constellation will be working with are legacy hardware
built in the English system.
A decision about measurements for potential lunar surface systems
will be made at a later date.
That is most regrettable and incredibly short sighted.
Metric SAVES money; it does not cost more in the long run.
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
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SImplification Begins With SI.
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