The metric conversion was much earlier, see below. NASA probably has people/processes/systems in place to communicate in freedom units even if the internal unit makes it tricky to determine a third of something.
In 1930, the British Standards Institution adopted an inch of exactly 25.4 mm. The American Standards Association followed suit in 1933. By 1935, industry in 16 countries had adopted the "industrial inch" as it came to be known, effectively endorsing Johansson's pragmatic choice of conversion ratio.
Didn't NASA agree to go fully metric under Obama after the cancellation of Constellation?