In theory, yes, Tm would be better. And occasionally the BBC does use high/low scales of prefixes, even if it has to then explain what they mean (e.g. it will say µm, then augment this with millionths of a metre). Using km probably makes most sense to the average Brit, many of whom probably do not know what a km is, never mind a Tm. Whether we say billions of km, or so many Tm, it is a bloody long way that is beyond the capabilities of just about all of us in trying to visualise such a distance.
John F-L From: Kilopascal Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 2:51 AM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: BBC News - Voyager Solar System 'exit' debated http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21866532 The mission is currently moving more than 18 billion km from Earth, or 123 times the distance between our planet and the Sun. It is good to see the BBC using metric but wouldn't it be better if they said Voyager 1 is 18 Tm from the earth? Metric is superior to USC and imperial because we can scale numbers with prefixes and avoid ambiguous counting words like million and billion. So, why do we allow the corruption inherent in USC to creep into metric? No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2904 / Virus Database: 2641/6192 - Release Date: 03/20/13
