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submitted 4 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world

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."

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[-] RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 92 points 4 months ago
[-] CAVOK@lemmy.world 27 points 4 months ago

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 4 months ago

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 4 months ago

You dont normally interact with rhinos either.

[-] Sentrovasi@kbin.social 3 points 4 months ago

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 4 months ago

A car is in the 1500 to 2000 kg range

[-] Sentrovasi@kbin.social 1 points 4 months ago
[-] Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 6 points 4 months ago

It would be an avg car

[-] Noodle07@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

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 4 months ago

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.

[-] Noodle07@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago
[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

A midsize sedan is about that weight.

[-] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

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

[-] CAVOK@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

One adult female rhino.

[-] el_bhm@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

1.5 footbal field

[-] Squizzy@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

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.

[-] dylanTheDeveloper@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

That's it I'm giving you a 1/16th of an basketball

[-] BreadstickNinja@lemmy.world 79 points 4 months ago

Ah, an adult rhino. A unit I work with on a daily basis and can easily comprehend, unlike arcane measurements of pounds or kilograms.

[-] FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I assume we are talking about an unladen adult rhino... And why didn't they specify the time in some understandable increment, for instance, it will re-enter in the time it would take a normal human to devour 18 triple cheeseburgers from the Burger King in Schenectady NY?

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I just can't imagine this impact... How many rhinos is the Earth and how many times faster than a cheetah will it be traveling??? Plus, really, how far even is space??? You could at least tell me how many CVS receipts or flea jumps away the satellite is.

[-] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 4 points 4 months ago

Joke's on you, CBS knew that using this odd measurement in their headline would provoke discussion which would spread the story a lot more widely.

AND LOOK, IT'S WORKING

[-] ForestOrca@kbin.social 11 points 4 months ago

Joke's on you, I didn't read the article. lol

[-] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 2 points 4 months ago

I mean, I didn't either. I'm just here to talk about the rhino comparison.

[-] ForestOrca@kbin.social 4 points 4 months ago

We've got to stick to the important matters, or we'll never get anything done. I mean geeze, they didn't even specify which kind of rhino!! I mean there are 5 living species White, Black, Indian, Javan, and Sumatran, that range in size from 700 to 3200kg. All of which I've just learned from wikipedia in the last few minutes. Standards, dammit, we need STANDARDS!! :-D

[-] neuropean@kbin.social 20 points 4 months ago

How aren’t people getting it yet? The use of wild and obscure weight references is the new clickbait?

[-] YoorWeb@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's common in the US media.

[-] dhtseany@lemmy.ml 16 points 4 months ago

What's that in bananas? 🍌

[-] Nindelofocho@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago

About 12:30 PM

[-] JoMomma@lemm.ee 10 points 4 months ago
[-] Potatisen@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

This is factually correct

[-] ForestOrca@kbin.social 5 points 4 months ago

Bananas are for scale, not mass. Gah! (lol)

[-] Davel23@kbin.social 2 points 4 months ago

Cavendish or Gros Michel?

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

Potassium, fiber, and banana flavoring.

[-] Skanky@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago
[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Enough to be fairly radioactive.

[-] SoupBrick@yiffit.net 10 points 4 months ago

Thief steals 1/100th of an adult rhino's weight in bananas.

[-] cloudless@feddit.uk 4 points 4 months ago

American adult? Or European adult?

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 4 points 4 months ago

How much is that in American football pitches?

[-] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

But how fast was the rhinoceros traveling?

[-] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 months ago

The speed of five Olympic-sized swimming pools.

[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

That's hotter than a Chevy Pinto!

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

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