What Makes the Metric System Essential for NASA's Mars Mission?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the portrayal of NASA's Mars mission in a video, particularly focusing on the accuracy of scientific details and the use of the metric system. Participants critique the video's representation of space phenomena and communication delays, while also touching on the historical context of metric system adoption at NASA.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express disappointment in the video's scientific accuracy, noting misleading depictions of sound in space and communication delays.
  • Others argue that the control room dialogue reflects a standard practice in mission control, where phrases like "now" and countdowns are used for internal coordination rather than real-time updates.
  • A participant highlights the cultural impact of Hollywood on public perceptions of space, suggesting that the video perpetuates misconceptions.
  • There is a mention of the historical context of NASA's transition to the metric system, with one participant recalling a humorous anecdote from their time at NASA JSC.
  • Some participants acknowledge the ongoing debate about the preference for metric versus imperial units in scientific contexts.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally disagree on the effectiveness and accuracy of the video's portrayal of space missions, with some defending the control room's communication style while others criticize it as misleading. The discussion on the metric system also shows varying opinions on its adoption and relevance in scientific practice.

Contextual Notes

Participants express differing levels of familiarity with NASA's practices and the impact of media representations on public understanding of space science. The discussion reflects a blend of personal experiences and broader cultural critiques.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in the intersection of media representation and scientific accuracy, as well as those curious about NASA's historical practices regarding the metric system, may find this discussion relevant.

Naty1
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6 minute video.
Long on visuals, short of science details...
but I found myself watching to the end.
Lots of explosions.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCIzZHpFtY
 
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Not just short of scientific details, but very misleading and disappointing.

Yes, lots of explosions making noise out where there should be silence. When the narrorator first comes in he mentions that it is not necessary to run the engines, but just coast... and the craft is depicted to be doing that, yet we still have a noisy racket going on... as if the craft is going through air at high speed. Before Mars reentry, the craft is still making that roaring sound through space...

Control room talk says this is happening "now" and "... 3, 2,1, mark!" and "At this point in time we should be on the ground"...as we see it received from Mars long after it happened...

I know after a few generations of people watching Hollywood space operas on TV and in the theaters they expect explosions to make noise in space, and zooming through space to make noise, and communications delays between distant places to be nonexistent, but why continue to support these fundamental misapprehensions here?

My generation was starting grade school when Glenn made his orbits; we were very interested in space. By the time we stopped believing in Santa Claus, we would have noticed these problems with the video. Yet, over 50 years later this is what we are presented to watch?

Music was a little creepy, too. :)
 
Control room talk says this is happening "now" and "... 3, 2,1, mark!" and "At this point in time we should be on the ground"...as we see it received from Mars long after it happened...

I thought that comment was made while they were awaiting communication confirmation. I thought the point was that the communication confirmed what they hoped was already a successful landing.

On the other hand, I think your points are well taken because I'm not watching it over and over to get additional details!

edit: It's a rare depiction of activities in outer space that are silent...2001 a Space Odyessy is the only one that comes to mind...Star Wars,etc, seemed to have an abundence of booms and bangs!
 
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bahamagreen said:
Control room talk says this is happening "now" and "... 3, 2,1, mark!" and "At this point in time we should be on the ground"...as we see it received from Mars long after it happened…
That portion of the video is a live recording from the Spirit landing back in 2004. The same thing happened with the Apollo programs. The 1.3 second one-way delay became apparent when Mission Control in Houston and the astronauts on the Moon talked to one another. When the Apollo controllers looked at telemetry, they used words such as "now" and countdowns to a mark.

The primary purpose of the controller voice loop is for the controllers to talk to one another, to ensure that everyone is on the same page. The Spirit mission controllers knew exactly what those happening "now" and "… 3, 2, 1, mark" phrases meant. They meant they should be looking at the telemetry for signs of proper deployment. There was no reason to qualify those statements by "we should be coming up on the parachute deployment telemetry, which actually happened several minutes ago."
 
I know all that... my position is that the video is using the typical Hollywood thriller production values which tend to hide all that from the uninformed viewer, which I consider a scientific shame.

I may be more sensitive to it because I gave up TV and movies over 30 years ago.
 
lol - "miles" per hour...

I know, I know... it's a decades old battle, but I think science kinda prefers metric now??just my 2 cents
 
When I worked at NASA JSC the weekly site newsletter chose this headline to report progress on the conversion to metric...

"JSC Reaches Metric Milestone"

I had to show that to quite a few people before someone got it and laughed.
 

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