
NASA’s Journey into the Red Planet’s Deepest Mysteries - dnetesn
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/science/mars-insight-launch.html
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seiferteric
> A cubic foot of Mars weighs, on average, 245 pounds, making it almost 30
> percent less dense than Earth.

I'm not usually a stickler for units, but in this context I feel they should
use better ones since it's very confusing to me. "weighs" 245 pounds... on
mars? earth? then talking about density... clearly they should have used
mass/volume (kg/m^3)

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greglindahl
"30% less dense" doesn't have units, so you shouldn't have been confused about
that part.

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seiferteric
True, but talking about weight when other planets are involved without being
specified is rather confusing.

~~~
greglindahl
In an article for the general public?

I'm glad I'm not a science writer, I'd hate to have to deal with criticism
like this.

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mturmon
“Launch is scheduled at 4:05 a.m. local time on May 5, and the southward
trajectory could offer a predawn light show for early risers in Los Angeles
and San Diego.”

If you are not blocked by clouds, you should be able to see it looking
westward over the LA basin - it passes over the Channel Islands, roughly
headed south.

It may not even be visible around the Vandenberg launch pad due to persistent
low clouds at that time of day.

More:
[https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7095](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7095)

