English/metric measurement error in the Mars Climate Orbiter

[mklotz]

It is a big mistake to attempt to see anything reasonable in the imperial system or its offshoots. That comes from someone brought up on the system. My advice is to burn all rulers not graduated in mm.

Good advice, Tony.

One of my favorite examples of the idiocy of the inferial* system is having a volume unit depend on what is contained in said volume...

There are seven different barrel sizes used in the USA, with the size being dependent on the contents. Their names and metric equivalents are as follows: US cranberry (95.5 liters), US dry (115.628 liters), US liquid (119.24 liters), US federal (117.348 liters), US federal proof spirits (151.416 liters), US drum (208.4 liters), US petroleum (135 kg.), US petroleum statistical (158.99 liters)

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* my term for the further botched version of the Imperial system used in the USA under the name "US Customary Units". "Inferial" is a portmanteau of "inferior/infuriating" and "Imperial".