Post #940158
2026-04-05 10:01 UTC
@mrundkvist@archaeo.social when speaking to some group of people, it's useful to speak their language so that they understand. Nasa's PR is primarily aimed at the US taxpayer, most of whom aren't fluent in metric. Back when SpaceX was still cool I really enjoyed their streams using SI-units, but I guess they were aiming their PR towards nerds and international audiences. Yes it is weird that there's no SI-units alongside the US-customary ones. But I guess too many numbers could be confusing for the uninitiated.
Under the hood everything is in SI, so there shouldn't be a need to fear for a Mars Climate Orbitter esque screw up.
Replies (1)
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@internic@mathstodon.xyz 2026-04-06 02:50
@aumalatj@mementomori.social @mrundkvist@archaeo.social This is a mistake that people often make in consuming science communication, assuming that the communicators speak in colloquial or simplified terms because they lack an understanding of the subject matter, when in actuality they are often simply phrasing it in a way they think is most likely to be understood by their target audience. And the target audience is almost never experts nor usually even enthusiastic amateurs. In this case it might be the American of median education level or perhaps the median middle school student (if trying to get kids into the science education pipeline).