Mastodawn

You know there's something wrong with US politics when NASA is forced to communicate in Imperial measurements.

"Orion’s main engine provides up to 6,000 pounds of thrust, enough to accelerate a car from 0 to 60 mph in about 2.7 seconds. At the time of the burn, Orion’s mass was 58,000 pounds and burned approximately 1,000 pounds of fuel during the firing."

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/02/artemis-ii-flight-day-2-orion-completes-tli-burn-crew-begins-journey-to-the-moon/

#space #artemis #nasa

Artemis II Flight Day 2: Orion Completes TLI Burn, Crew Begins Journey to the Moon - NASA

NASA’s Artemis II crew is on the way to the Moon.

NASA

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Martin Rundkvist 3d ago

OFFS "On the station, crews rely on more than 4,000 pounds of exercise hardware spread across roughly 850 cubic feet." 🙄

#science #nasa #artemis

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Martin Rundkvist 3d ago

NASA's use of Imperial measurements is similar to if US biologists started using species names in the Texas dialect instead of in Latin.

#science #nasa #artemis #space

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Martin Rundkvist 3d ago

I can't overstate this. NASA's use of pounds and cubic feet in its outreach efforts does not come across to science-literate people, inside or outside the US, as a sign that the country is a badass superpower that can do what it likes and ignore everyone else.

Instead it suggests that the US is a provincial nation of dungaree-wearing banjo players.

#science #nasa #artemis #space

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Mute Dog Brewing 3d ago

@mrundkvist

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George Dinwiddie 1d ago

@Mutedog @mrundkvist Yeah, though how “science literate” are people who can’t do the conversion when they need to.

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Phil Thane ✅1d ago

@gdinwiddie @Mutedog @mrundkvist Yes one can do it, but it's extra load. I used to write about the Oil & Gas business and everyone measures oil in barrels. Which in the US are 50 gallons but only 45 in the UK, not because of barrels are smaller but because our gallons are bigger. Then there are tons. US ton = 2000 pounds, UK ton 2240 pounds so the US version is sometimes called a short ton. The SI tonne is 1000Kg which is almost the same as a UK ton

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Mute Dog Brewing

@pthane @gdinwiddie @mrundkvist hahaha, I meant both as in a super power country and also full of banjo playing yokels