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December 06, 2005
Think outside the square
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discoveredthat ball point pens would not work in zero gravity.
To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and millions of dollars developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside-down on almost any surface including glass and at below freezing to over 3000 C.
The Russians used a pencil.
Posted by Peskie at December 6, 2005 12:00 PM
Comments
Great story, but alas untrue. Graphite dust is highly conductive, and in zero-G would be a real menace to any circuity. Like the life support system.
When working on FedSat, the taking of pencils anywhere in the building was forbidden.
Posted by: Alan E Brain at January 2, 2005 07:01 AM
