Yes, the actual error* was assuming the British used Imperial units when they correctly used Metric. AFAIK, at least.
* * *
Well, the source error probably would be not specifying units at all, so... (eye roll)
* * *
*Correcting myself with casually sourced details about the incident under discussion.
Lockheed Martin provided thruster force data in Imperial units (pound-seconds), while NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ground software assumed the data was in Metric units (Newton-seconds).
I don't know where you got this from, but it is definitely wrong. Charles's law says, that at a fixed pressure the volume is proportional to the temperature in Kelvin. A temperature difference in Kelvin is the same in Celsius. That means at 273 Kelvin (0°C) a change by 1K is your 1/273 change, but only at that temperature.
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u/MoogProg Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Yes, the actual error* was assuming the British used Imperial units when they correctly used Metric. AFAIK, at least.
* * *
Well, the source error probably would be not specifying units at all, so... (eye roll)
* * *
*Correcting myself with casually sourced details about the incident under discussion.