<VV> Space pen - was $60 Rotisserie!

[jvhroberts at aol.com]

Being a NASA junkie ever since I was a kid, this story always makes me 
laugh. Now, mind you, I have the utmost respect for the Soviet space 
program, after all, they beat us to the punch in most things, and have 
killed less people going to or from space than we have. All while 
spending FAR less money.

On the other hand, we got to the moon and didn't lose anyone in flight. 
And, the Saturn V, at full thrust, made the equivalent of 200,000,000 
horsepower! EGADS! And to date, is still the most powerful space 
launcher ever used.

But, back to the point, I knew about this back in the early 70s, about 
the pen. What I can't figure out, is how this story got this much 
traction! Oh well...

John Roberts

-----Original Message-----
From: Bryan Blackwell <bryan at skiblack.com>
To: Rodney Spooner <rodneyspooner at corvairgarage.com>
Cc: Virtual Vairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tue, Jan 11, 2011 8:16 am
Subject: Re: <VV> Space pen - was $60 Rotisserie!


Wrong.  In fact, Paul Fisher developed his now famous Space Pen with 
his own
money, and both space programs switched to them from pencils because of 
the
issues with using a pencil in a spacecraft (graphite floating around 
electrical
systems is bad).  It is, much like the Corvair, a brilliant engineering 
solution
which now gets a bum rap.

Source:  http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

--Bryan

On Jan 11, 2011, at 1:55 AM, Rodney Spooner wrote:

> Speaking of Yankee ingenuity, NASA spent millions engineering a zero 
gravity
> pen so the astronauts could write in space...The Russians used a 5 
cent
> pencil. Sometimes, necessity is the motherland of invention...eh,
> comrades???

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