The only problem that I see is that NASA is perpetuating the use of vulgar fractions, which I am convinced is a terrible idea.
I hope someone educates them to start using 50 cm (or 0.5 m) instead of "half a meter". Regards, Ezra ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Hooper" <[email protected]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:37:19 PM Subject: [USMA:48015] Mars roving vehicle In a news release from NASA (at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1703.html ) there is an interesting description of the size of the wheels on the new Mars rover vehicle: " Curiosity's six-wheel mobility system, with a rocker-bogie suspension system, resembles the systems on earlier, smaller Mars rovers, but for Curiosity, the wheels will also serve as landing gear. Each wheel is half a meter (20 inches) in diameter." Note that, not only is it both in Ye Olde English and in metric, bit the metric is the primary. There may be some hope for NASA yet. The photo is interesting, too. Bill Hooper 1810 mm tall Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA ========================== SImplification Begins With SI. ==========================
