this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
55 points (78.9% liked)

science

14806 readers
150 users here now

A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.

rule #1: be kind

<--- rules currently under construction, see current pinned post.

2024-11-11

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
m3t00@lemmy.world
Joleee@lemmy.world
laverabe@lemmy.world
DeadPand@midwest.social
55
Satellite weighing as much as adult rhino to crash through Earth's atmosphere today (www.cbsnews.com)
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
42 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A satellite will likely make an uncontrolled return through Earth's atmosphere today, according to the latest estimates from the European Space Agency.

It says ERS-2, which weighs about as much as an adult male rhinoceros, is expected to re-enter at about 11:32 a.m. EST — plus or minus 4.6 hours. The agency can't predict exactly when and where the satellite will re-enter because its return is "natural."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] CAVOK@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago (2 children)

What's this weird obsession with measuring everything in anything but metric? How am I supposed to know how much a rhino weighs?

Had they said 1500 - 2500kg it would have been clear as day.

But on a positive note I now know how much a rhino weighs.

[–] Sentrovasi@kbin.social 6 points 9 months ago (4 children)

To be fair, I actually find it more difficult to visualise 1500kg than a rhino (I just don't normally interact with things on that scale), so it does help me in terms of knowing how big the satellite roughly is.

[–] xkforce@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You dont normally interact with rhinos either.

[–] Sentrovasi@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But I know what one looks like, and I go to the zoo fairly regularly. I don't know what a 1500kg weight looks like, because even for the things which are 1500kg, it's not normally its defining characteristic.

[–] xkforce@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

A car is in the 1500 to 2000 kg range

[–] Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 6 points 9 months ago

It would be an avg car

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's about a heavy car to a truck, that's way easier to visualize a car than a rhino even without using metric

[–] Sentrovasi@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, agreed, but to be fair all of this is no longer criticism about why they didn't use the metric system and actually acknowledges that people need visualisation sometimes.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

A midsize sedan is about that weight.

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I don't know, how the hell am I supposed to know how many rhino's 1500kg is?

[–] CAVOK@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

One adult female rhino.

[–] el_bhm@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

1.5 footbal field