Comments on: Shuttle thermal blanket a bit loose

By: JackC

JackC — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:35:26 +0000

MattFunke, you have made my point – most particularly in the line “In commercial and everyday use, and especially in common parlance…” – I submit that objects in space qualify for neither.

Yes – down here, weight and mass are (nearly) interchangeable – but I submit that another “common use” term when referring to ISS and other objects in orbit or in space is “weightless” (another terribly inaccurate term, if you wish to get down to nuts and bolts).

So – I would ask for an explanation on how something can “weigh” 230k lbs and yet be “weightless”.

Of course, all this is semantics and goes to the core of the issue. I found two other references from outside the US that state:

From Sweeden: Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in a body. The term “weight” is sometimes used as a synonym for mass. However, this term has also several other meanings and should therefore be avoided.

From The National Standard of Canada, CAN/CSA-Z234.1-89 Canadian Metric Practice Guide, January 1989:

5.7.3 Considerable confusion exists in the use of the term “weight.” In commercial and everyday use, the term “weight” nearly always means mass. In science and technology, “weight” has primarily meant a force due to gravity. In scientific and technical work, the term “weight” should be replaced by the term “mass” or “force,” depending on the application.

5.7.4 The use of the verb “to weigh” meaning “to determine the mass of,” e.g., “I weighed this object and determined its mass to be 5 kg,” is correct.

Please note in 5.7.3 the use of the phrase “In scientific and technical work…” – unless you wish to suggest that ISS is neither?

By: Buzz Parsec

Buzz Parsec — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 05:30:59 +0000

Hmm! All they need is a towel. They *DO* know where their towels are, don’t they?

By: SLC

SLC — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:53:30 +0000

“I have a small repair I keep on my bike when I ride. I suspect the contents of both repair kits arenâ€™t all that dissimilar, too! I wonder if they have tire irons and a spare inner tube, though.”

Obviously Dr. Plait is not a real man. Real men ride on tubulars!

By: JC

JC — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:48:34 +0000

Scary part is, the NASA duct tape is $10,000 a roll…and the engineer that suggested they just pick some up from the local hardware store was let go for being “too unrealistic”

By: DenverAstro

DenverAstro — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:05:58 +0000

You all forgot the fibreglass and 2 part epoxy…just like on surfboards.

Kowabunga Hodads!

By: Sergeant Zim

Sergeant Zim — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:59:21 +0000

J/P – - – “Patches!? We don’t need no STEEENKIN’ patches!”

Ever notice that Duct Tape is like the Force, from Star Wars?

It has a Light Side, and a Dark Side, and it binds the Universe together…

By: icemith

icemith — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:46:04 +0000

Re the list of items in the repair kit:

* Science Dictionary… so we know *exactly* what we are talking about.
* A Swiss Army pocket knife, c/w that little thing for getting stones out of horses’ hooves.
* Left-handed screwdriver.
* Sky hook.

And that the Tool box double as a stool to sit/stand on during those awkward repair procedures.

Ivan.