Mars Weather Probe Lost Over Feet-vs-Furlongs Mixup Posted by Hemlock on Saturday October 16, @07:30PM EDT from the should-have-used-cubits dept. RocketRandy writes "An investigation board has concluded that the Mars Weather Probe was lost because one contractor's software reported thrust in pound-force seconds and the navigation team assumed newton-seconds. The $125 million spacecraft is now believed to be either in a very low orbit or a very small crater." Let this be a lesson to everyone who ever skipped the units in physics class. I'm looking at myself here. Mars Weather Probe Lost Over Feet-vs-Furlongs Mixup | Login/Create an Account | Top | 35 comments | Search Discussion Threshold: -1: 35 comments 0: 33 comments 1: 28 comments 2: 15 comments 3: 9 comments 4: 2 comments 5: 1 comments NestedFlatThreadedNo Comments Oldest FirstNewest FirstHighest Scores First The fine print: the following comments belong to whoever typed them. Dashdot takes no responsibility for them, and frankly, neither do most of the people who typed them. FP by Anonymous Coward (Score:0) Re:FP by Prior Art Pete on Saturday October 16, @07:48PM EDT (#3) (User Info) Source? My brother-in-law says otherwise, and he has a Pentode. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by GrumpyGreybeard on Saturday October 16, @08:31PM EDT (#8) (User Info) This is the most sensible thing I've read on Dashdot all week. Somebody mod this up. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by NullPointer on Saturday October 16, @10:14PM EDT (#16) (User Info) Heh. Nice one. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by PolarPenguin on Saturday October 16, @11:22PM EDT (#22) (User Info) Citation needed. Where are you getting these numbers? [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by Anonymous Coward (Score:0) Re:FP by GrumpyGreybeard on Saturday October 16, @11:58PM EDT (#25) (User Info) Real men use a magnetized needle and a steady hand. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by sysadmin_steve on Sunday October 17, @12:33AM EDT (#27) (User Info) Not true at all. I've been running it for months with no problems. Maybe check your hardware? [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by WindowManiac on Saturday October 16, @07:55PM EDT (#4) (User Info) Did you even read the parent post? He said the opposite. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by ParanoidPolly on Saturday October 16, @08:40PM EDT (#9) (User Info) Hey, at least it's not Portals. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by SpudGun on Saturday October 16, @09:22PM EDT (#12) (User Info) Whoosh. That was the sound of the joke going over your head. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:FP by q_bert on Saturday October 16, @10:26PM EDT (#17) (User Info) Mod parent down! Flamebait. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Integration testing by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @07:44PM EDT (#2) Nobody ran an end-to-end test of the actual data files passed between teams. This isn't a units problem, it's a process problem. The units are just where the process failure showed up. [ Reply to This ] Re:Integration testing by Hemlock on Saturday October 16, @07:56PM EDT (#5) (User Info) Wait until you see the next version. It's going to be worse. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Integration testing by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @08:59PM EDT (#10) Exactly. And the vendors know it, which is why they're scared. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Integration testing by Anthropologeek on Saturday October 16, @09:27PM EDT (#13) (User Info) You're both wrong, and I'm going to explain why in a post that's way too long for anyone to read. Paragraph one: ... [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Integration testing by ClamshellCarl on Saturday October 16, @09:46PM EDT (#14) (User Info) This. A thousand times this. [ Reply to This | Parent ] The metric system by crufty on Saturday October 16, @09:06PM EDT (#11) (User Info) This is why every country except about three uses metric. Feet are based on a king's foot. Which king? Nobody knows! [ Reply to This ] Re:The metric system by Anonymous Coward (Score:0) Re:The metric system by modem_mike on Saturday October 16, @11:39PM EDT (#23) (User Info) I think you're missing the point. Nobody is arguing it's perfect, just that it's better than what we had. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Boring by SpudGun on Saturday October 16, @09:56PM EDT (#15) (User Info) Another day, another story about a chip that is 8% faster. Wake me when they invent the flying car. Or at least the flying modem. [ Reply to This ] Re:Boring by Anthropologeek on Saturday October 16, @11:11PM EDT (#21) (User Info) So what you're saying is that it's a conspiracy. Got it. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Slashdotted by FidoFan on Saturday October 16, @10:38PM EDT (#19) (User Info) Site's already slashdotted. Er, dashdotted. Anyone have a mirror? [ Reply to This ] Re:Slashdotted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @10:53PM EDT (#20) I tried that and it set my monitor on fire. Thanks a lot. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Hmm, not so sure by kludge_king on Sunday October 17, @12:46AM EDT (#28) (User Info) I'm not so sure this is good news. Every time someone says 'this will change everything', it changes about 3% of something. [ Reply to This ] Hype by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17, @12:54AM EDT (#29) The hype-to-substance ratio on this one is pretty high. Let's see it running in production before we all get excited. [ Reply to This ] Grammar by RetroRaccoon on Sunday October 17, @01:00AM EDT (#30) (User Info) It's 'its', not 'it's'. Doesn't anyone proofread these stories? ;-) [ Reply to This ] My math teacher was right by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17, @01:12AM EDT (#31) I would like to formally apologize to Mr. Hoskins, 10th grade physics. Units matter. You were right. [ Reply to This ] Mirror by SpudGun on Sunday October 17, @01:19AM EDT (#33) (User Info) Mirror here, while it lasts: it's on my cable modem so be gentle. [ Reply to This ] Standards by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17, @01:30AM EDT (#34) This is why we need open standards. Without them every vendor builds a little walled garden and the users pay for the walls. [ Reply to This ] My experience by BioBob on Sunday October 17, @01:40AM EDT (#35) (User Info) I've been working in this industry for 15 years, and I can tell you that this kind of thing comes around every five years with a new name. The underlying ideas don't change much; the marketing does. [ Reply to This ] 7 replies beneath your current threshold. 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