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.”
Anything but metric
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.
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.
You dont normally interact with rhinos either.
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.
A car is in the 1500 to 2000 kg range
TIL :)
It would be an avg car
It’s about a heavy car to a truck, that’s way easier to visualize a car than a rhino even without using metric
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.
Yup
A midsize sedan is about that weight.
I don’t know, how the hell am I supposed to know how many rhino’s 1500kg is?
One adult female rhino.
1.5 footbal field
I was just thinking when I fo to the zoo they have posters saying how much a rhino weighs because how would anyone intuitively know that.
It’s so stupid and also, is gat big for a satellite? I don’t know.
That’s it I’m giving you a 1/16th of an basketball