To many, unit conversion may seem like a simple calculation and innocuous operation that cannot lead to catastrophe. And if you are one of those, you cannot be more wrong. The recent history is marred with an array of multi-million dollars research projects and catastrophes, which emanated from faulty unit conversion.
If you find it hard to believe, then read what follows. Here we are giving a lowdown of failed projects and tragedies.
NASA’s failed mars orbiter
In 1999, two space exploration projects of NASA failed successively. One of the failed projects was a Mars Orbiter, which cost $125 million dollars. In the investigation for the failure, it was pointed out that the erroneous conversions of the metric unit into imperial unit lead to the failure. Who could imagine that conversion as simple as inches to cm could lead to wastage of millions of taxpayers’ money. However, the precedent was set and again in the realm of the space exploration.
Solar Heliospheric Observatory
In 1998, a joint project, the solar heliospheric observatory, of NASA and European Space Agency gutted because of shoddy unit conversion. That project also was a multi-million project, which could help the scientific community to make new discoveries related to the sun. However, thanks to the prevalence of the dual unit system, the project lost its contact with the Earth. It is not hard to imagine how the project could be saved if a standard measurement converter was used.
Insufficient fuel in a transatlantic flight
A catastrophe that could lead to scores of death happened in 1983, when an Air Canada flight left with inadequate fuel in the middle of a flight because the fuel fillers used European units to fill the plane. At that time, Air Canada embraced the metric units, and the ill-fated plane was the first to use the new system. The confusion wreaked havoc in the cockpit when sensors showed that the plane has run out of fuel. Luckily, though, the experienced pilots could manage to land the plane and there were on human casualty, however, the plane could not fly again.
Another airplane related blunder
An American cargo plane in 1994 landed at landed at an airport with difficulty. The landing could end into flames, the FAA investigation reported because the plane was 15 tons heavier than the safe limit. Further, the investigation revealed the reason again was the unit conversion, kilo to pound.
The failures are a testimony that measurement converter can be a great tool to avert such tragedies in the future. Thus, the next a class teacher teaches unit conversion, do not zone off, and focus, you never know what you learn in the class saves your life or your pet project.