Importance of Precision

• Sloppy facts and lack of precision can destroy things

• Confusion over units of measure destroyed the Mars Lander

  • Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory thought they were dealing in metric units -- or newtons per second -- when calculating spacecraft thrust,
  • The Lockheed Martin Corp. team that built the system had programmed the measurements in English pounds per second.

• The difference took the craft about 60 miles off course and into oblivion.