Hi, I just sent the following comments to the writers of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's newspaper. It's a good newspaper, except they usually convert all measurements to FFU.
John I really enjoy reading the Universe, but sometimes wonder why so many articles seem to intentionally avoid the metric system? For example, in the articles today about the meteorite-like rock found on Mars and satellites seen by Cassini, distances are quoted only in inches and miles. I find it very hard to believe that planetary scientists and geologists are really studying the heavens in inches and miles. The official measuring system world-wide (including the U.S.) is called the International System of Units (SI). I think most JPL readers would not have trouble understanding SI units like centimeters, meters, km, liters, grams, kilograms, etc. I suggest you always give measurements in SI, possibly adding the customary-unit equivalent in parentheses when needed for clarity. I would be happy to provide information about correct SI usage if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration,
