Now even the moon is metric! <scratching my head>

kilometers,

That bloke Napoleon has a lot to answer for. Pity he based the metric system on a wrong calculation of the earths circumferance ! Working in decimal figures is much easier than fractions and it doesn't really matter what the unit is but I regret the passing of feet and inches, they are 'natural' units - especially as I am blessed with feet that are exactly one foot long (in shoes). Makes estimating room sizes etc much easier.

AWEM

The basis doesn't matter. And who introduced it neither.

I too have many built-in references: My arms span nearly 2m, a long step is

Reminds me of a story I read in the newspaper: In front of court, a witness was asked for a distance (was a car accident) and he answered 17m. The judge -knowing how "good" people are in estimating distances-, asked the witness for the length of the room. He had a quick look and answered "13.46m". The judge accepted all his estimates from that moment on. He was just 2cm off. The witness was a painter by profession. That estimate would work in feet and inches as well.

Nick

And exactly *what* does all this have to do with metalworking ? For as much as you flog others about OT posts , you should be ashamed of yourself , Nick . At least others have the common decency to post "OT" on the subject line , you didn't even do that !

Metrology?

Nick

...nah .... Moonology !!!

AWEM

That reminds me of another court room story in which a man saw a crime in the rear view mirror. The defense attorney asked the man just how far he could see in said mirror. The reply was "Well last night I saw the moon in it." Steve

Nick. I am glad to see you can post items not strictly on topic.

You, of all people know better than to post off topic crap on this newsgroup.

OTOH, who is going to go to the moon to tell them of the change?

What on the moon is ACTUALLY metric? Are there road signs that say "blimmel crater 17 Mi"? Are there signs that say "Speed Limit 25 MPH"? I think there might be a couple flags up there that might have imperial measure stripes on them....

Jon

Probably not us, anytime soon, foolish pronouncements from George Bush notwithstanding.

Jon

Nothing! It only shows how far metrification can reach. :-)

No, the article (a _NASA_ article) is quite ridiculous. And for a world-leading nation a shame to have to admit that they are the last one (minus some not so superduper important nations) to use the metric system. But only because others asked for and just for the moon.

dindingding Good morning!

Nick

Metrology is off-topic here? So the next one asking for help with his Starret will be kicked? But only if it's a metric one!

Nick

It might save lives.

Remember the crash and burn Mars lander ? - command in Metric, software in Imperial...

I, for one, was surprised to hear any, any Imperial measurements used in Space. Science in the U.S. has long been in Metric. Engineering in some places isn't...

Martin

Mart> Hi!

Likely it was calculated. His mind was already in Liters of paint and meter^2 for walls.

Martin

Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net TSRA, Life; NRA LOH & Endowment Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot"s Medal. NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.

Nick Mueller wrote:

Or maybe Loonacy

John

Lunokhod :-)

Mark Rand RTFM

AHHHH! I screwed it up! I (of course) meant to say, what is actually IMPERIAL? Are there road signs that

Yes, indeed, if you can figure out where it is!

Jon

"Undoubtedly, Bloodknock, this is Moriarty's doing! You'll recall the moon was in Moriarty's family for a great many years."

Funny how they never got there on their own, with all their nifty metrics and everything. It took a country that uses the Imperial system to figure out how to do it. Now the Metricizers want to come along for the ride.

d8-)

-- Ed Huntress

You know the old saying: Some talk about, but only a few can actually do it.