Uncle Bill's Helicopter

“On September 23rd, 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter, after travelling from earth to mars, missed its re-entry to the atmosphere by 143 kilometers, and burned to a crisp. Why? One engineering group used english units, the other used metric. 3 years of labor. Toast. They’d made a big mistake. They’d screwed up. Email to engineering: Clearly communicate essential facts. Otherwise, spaceships turn to smoke and ash. If you can’t convert between meters and feet, don’t leave the United States, or the planet!” Bill TahtUncle Bill’s HelicopterTaht.net)

Share
Published by
Dennis G. Jerz

Recent Posts

This is manageable. Far better than some semesters.

This is manageable. Far better than some semesters.

9 hours ago

Creating textures for background buildings in a medieval theater simulation project. I can always improve this later. #blender3d

Creating textures for background buildings in a medieval theater simulation project. I can always improve…

1 day ago

Yesterday my stack of unmarked assignments was about 120, so this is not bad.

Nothing in this stack is pressing, but they do include rough drafts of final papers,…

2 days ago

ai, ai, ai: critical thinking and literacy won’t save you

Here’s the underlying problem. We have an operating image of thought, an understanding of what…

2 days ago

Representing the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.

Representing the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.

6 days ago

The daughter opens another show. This weekend only.

The daughter opens another show. This weekend only.

6 days ago