Quantitative and Technical Material

Most information from Rude, Carolyn. Technical Editing, 4 th ed.

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/206510main_hstimgMARS_200711218_HI.jpg

The Mars Climate Orbiter was lost at the Red Planet […] because the mission's navigation team was unfamiliar with the spacecraft. It lacked training, and failed to detect a mistake by outside engineers who delivered navigation information in English [imperial] rather than metric units, according to a mission failure investigation report released Wednesday.

Space.com

A litany of errors and problems led to the loss of the $125 million spacecraft on Sept. 23, a loss that has complicated an upcoming Mars landing mission, the report says.

• • • • • • • • Errors went undetected within ground-based computer models of how small thruster firings on the spacecraft were predicted and then carried out on the spacecraft during its interplanetary trip to Mars The operational navigation team was not fully informed on the details of the way that Mars Climate Orbiter was pointed in space, as compared to the earlier Mars Global Surveyor mission A final, optional engine firing to raise the spacecraft’s path relative to Mars before its arrival was considered but not performed for several interdependent reasons The systems engineering function within the project that is supposed to track and double-check all interconnected aspects of the mission was not robust enough, exacerbated by the first-time handover of a Mars-bound spacecraft from a group that constructed it and launched it to a new, multi-mission operations team Some communications channels among project engineering groups were too informal The small mission navigation team was oversubscribed and its work did not receive peer review by independent experts Personnel were not trained sufficiently in areas such as the relationship between the operation of the mission and its detailed navigational characteristics, or the process of filing formal anomaly reports The process to verify and validate certain engineering requirements and technical interfaces between some project groups, and between the project and its prime mission contractor, was inadequate Quoted directly from MFIB's report overview

Basic Guidelines for the Use of Numbers:

1. Use figures for all quantifiable units of measure 2. Do not begin a sentence with a figure 3. Do not mix systems of measurement 4. Set decimal fractions of less that 1.0 with an initial zero 5. Convert treatment of numbers in a translation

International System of Units (SI)

Quantity Unit Abbreviation

Length Mass Time Electric current Temperature Luminous intensity Amount of substance

International System of Units (SI)

Quantity Unit Abbreviation

Length Mass Time Electric current Temperature Luminous intensity Amount of substance Meter Kilogram Second Ampere Kelvin Candela Mole

International System of Units (SI)

Quantity Unit Abbreviation

Length Mass Time Electric current Temperature Luminous intensity Amount of substance Meter Kilogram Second Ampere Kelvin Candela Mole s A m kg K cd mol

SI Units for Other Physical Quantities

Unit Symbol or abbreviation Quantity

Acceleration Electric resistance Frequency Power Pressure Velocity

SI Units for Other Physical Quantities

Quantity

Acceleration Electric resistance Frequency Power Pressure Velocity

Unit

Meter per second squared

Symbol or abbreviation

Ohm Hertz Watt Newton per square meter Meter per second

SI Units for Other Physical Quantities

Quantity

Acceleration Electric resistance Frequency Power Pressure Velocity

Unit Symbol or abbreviation

Meter per second squared M / s 2 Ohm Hertz Ω Hz Watt W Newton per square meter N / m 2 Meter per second M / s

Fractions

Built up

1 + (x - 3) y + 2

Solid (Inline)

[1 + (x – 3)] / (y + 2) To mark a fraction for inline presentation: 1 2 Pay attention to order of parentheses, brackets, and braces:

{[()]}

Equations

• • • • Equations are statements, read as sentences, which follow accepted rules of grammar Equations contain an equal (=) sign Equations are numbered sequentially, generally by chapter, then equation # (1.1, 2.3, etc.) If you must break an equation across a line, break in front of an operational sign or relation. Never break terms in a parentheses.

k o v



pdv



v



mvdv

 1 2

mv

2

k o v



pdv



v



mvdv

 1 2

mv

2

k



o v



pdv



o v



mvdv

 1 2

mv

2

Formatting Equations

• • • • Align related equations on the equal sign Set operational or relational signs with a space on either side Place a zero before a decimal in quantity less than 1, except for correlation coefficients (r) and probabilities (P) Capitalize experiment and trial when these words refer to specific tests

Praesent varius nibh in sapien aliquet pulvinar. Mauris elementum est nec diam consequat sit amet tristique ante auctor. Donec luctus tincidunt sapien quis convallis, such as the equation for Tangential Velocity:

v cm



Rw

(1) Proin malesuada pellentesque euismod. Aenean quis malesuada lectus. Phasellus mollis suscipit dui, a tempus sem volutpat et. Acceleration is satisfied by

a cm



Ra

(1.2)

Praesent varius nibh in sapien aliquet pulvinar. Mauris elementum est nec diam consequat sit amet tristique ante auctor. Donec luctus tincidunt sapien quis convallis, such as the equation for Tangential Velocity:

v cm



Rw

(1.1) Proin malesuada pellentesque euismod. Aenean quis malesuada lectus. Phasellus mollis suscipit dui, a tempus sem volutpat et. Acceleration is satisfied by

a cm



Ra

(1.2)

Statistical symbols and abbreviations

Meaning Symbol / Abbreviation

ANOVA

r df F

μ

n N

P or φ

SD S; Ss t-test

Statistical symbols and abbreviations

Symbol / Abbreviation

ANOVA

r df F

μ

n N

P or φ

SD S; Ss t-test

Meaning

Analysis of variance Correlation Degrees of freedom F-ration Mean Number of subjects Number of test results Probability Standard deviation Subject; subjects Test of differences between two means