As a part of the agency's continued effort to transition to the Metric system, all units of measurement mentioned in press releases and status reports originating from NASA Headquarters and NASA field centers will include metric values.
According to Public Law 100-418 and Executive Order 12770, NASA and other government agencies are directed to implement and use the metric system of measurement by 1995. In addition, all NASA programs approved after October 1990 will be referenced in metric, according to the Executive Order.
To minimize news media/public confusion during the changeover, agency publications will use the traditional English inch-pound measurement first. This will be followed parenthetically by the corresponding metric measurement.
As news media/public acceptance of the metric system progresses, the policy will be changed to use the metric value first with the corresponding English inch-pound following in parentheses. Eventually, the traditional measurements will be eliminated completely.