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 on Saturday October 16, @07:31PM EDT (#1) Frist psot. Ha! In your face, everybody who has a job. [ Reply to This ] 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 Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16, @08:22PM EDT (#7) Funny, I had the exact opposite experience. Ymmv, I guess. [ 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 on Saturday October 16, @11:45PM EDT (#24) You must be new here. [ Reply to This | Parent ] 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 cyber_wombat on Saturday October 16, @08:06PM EDT (#6) (User Info) Don't feed the trolls. [ 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 on Saturday October 16, @10:28PM EDT (#18) Says the guy posting at 3am on a Tuesday. [ Reply to This | Parent ] 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 ] Re:The metric system by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17, @12:13AM EDT (#26) Mod parent up! [ 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 ] Meh by BioBob on Sunday October 17, @01:13AM EDT (#32) (User Info) Meh. Wake me up when it's open source. [ 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 ]

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