Re: Loss of Mars Climate Orbiter due to units of measurment conf

[Wilhelm Spickermann <wilhelm.spickermann@t-online.de>]

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On 24-Oct-99 Robert B. Love wrote:
> In <380F272A.988B7524@ftw.rsc.raytheon.com> Wes Groleau wrote:
>> 
>> > |While I am personally in favor of the SI, I must insist that the
>> > |"fundamental constants" are rendered in whatever units the
>> > |renderer
>> > |chooses.  I was taught in high school that G = 32.2 ft / sec**2
>> 
>> 
>> Yes, but I was rebutting a post that claimed the reason for using SI
>> is 
>> because "that's what the fundamental constants are rendered in."
> 
> Actually, you can't "choose" what units the fundamental constants
> are in.  They are decided on by an international body and the method
> of measurement, the units used, the accuracy, etc are all part of
> the published value. 
..

I wouldn�t quite say that. Fundamental constants like the gravitational
constant or the speed of light cannot be decided on and no one may
decide, how they are to be measured. 

Wilhelm