Thus ends one of my favorite one liners
Which went something like “There are two types of countries in the world, those that use the metric system and those that landed a Chevy on Mars”.
Seems the Europeans went and landed a Renault on a comet. A motherfucking comet. You go, guys.
November 12th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
Astoundingly cool. This just goes to show that as messed up as Europe is, when the rationalists and engineers get involved in something, great things can happen. Congratulations ESA, well done!!
November 12th, 2014 at 7:52 pm
Yabbut it was a really big comet.
November 12th, 2014 at 7:53 pm
So, it’s smaller than Mars? 🙂
November 12th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
I’m just thinking about the reactions thousands, (millions?) of years from now if an alien race finds the Philae lander on the comet.
Think of the arguments it would start.
It would make the “Evolution / Intelligent Design” or “Free Will / Predestination” or even the “9mm / .45” discussions pale in comparison.
November 12th, 2014 at 9:23 pm
They didn’t so much “land on” as “harpoon” the comet. And here I thought the EU was against whaling…
November 12th, 2014 at 9:29 pm
Well, space programs are sooo passé. Think of all the light-rail, green-ways, sidewalk cafes, and poetry houses that can be had if we completely gave up the notion of NASA!
November 12th, 2014 at 10:07 pm
There are two types of people in the world. People who believe there are two types of people in the world, and those who don’t.
November 13th, 2014 at 7:41 am
I’ll just fix that for you.
“There are two types of countries in the world, those that use the metric system consistently and those that crash a Mars probe because they can’t make up their mind.”
To clarify:
On September 23, 1999 NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft after a 286-day journey to Mars.
Course corrections were made incorrectly due to the use of English units instead of metric unit. and apparently sent the craft slowly off course. Thrusters used to help point the spacecraft had, over the course of months, been fired incorrectly because data used to control the reaction wheels were calculated in incorrect units. Lockheed Martin, which was performing the calculations, was sending thruster data in English units (pounds) to NASA, while NASA’s navigation team was expecting metric units (Newtons), as specified in the contract.
November 13th, 2014 at 9:20 am
Sendarius, so it wasn’t actually the Imperial Quarts that caused it, right? But NAZA’s arrogance? Thought so.
The harpoons didn’t fire. Little Euro joke? But they conjugated that comet. We, of course, would have reached out and grabbed it. Used to do that all the time.
Doesn’t “Rosetta Lander” sound like a pole dancer name?
Apologies to any actual Poles involved in the venture.
November 13th, 2014 at 11:06 am
But we did it with slide rules.
Just sayin…
November 13th, 2014 at 7:44 pm
comatus:
No, as I said, it was the lack of commitment to a standard (ANY standard) that was the root of the problem.
I would say the arrogance was on Lockheed Martin’s part – the contract called for metric units to be used, and they chose not to comply.