This article that I put below is a publication I made a few years ago in the blog of NoSoloIngenieria. It was a project of some friends from my career in which I participated from time to time. I have tried to put it as is, although I could not resist editing it slightly. It is about the famous legend of the special pen that, according to some stories, NASA had to develop so that their astronauts could write in space. I hope you like this curious story.
The Legend
Many will have heard the story in which, in the exciting years of the space race that took place in the 1960s between Russians and Americans, the two great powers faced the development of a special pen. This was to enable astronauts to write in zero gravity and under the conditions of outer space.
These legends tell how NASA scientists, when they realized that conventional pens were not suitable for writing in space, spent years of research and development, as well as millions of dollars, to build a pen capable of writing in zero gravity conditions. The Russians, on the other hand, simply used a pencil. Scandalous, isn't it?
What Really Happened
Often things did not happen as they are told. This recurring story is often told as a mockery of Americans in engineering and product development classes, the moral of the story being that sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective.
The truth is that originally both the Americans and the Russians used simple graphite pencils. What is true is that NASA considered purchasing 34 mechanical pencils from Houston's Tycam Engineering Manufacturing, Inc., which would have cost $4,382.50, or $128.89 per pencil. When these expenses became public, people thought it was a frivolous expense and tried to find a cheaper solution. Added to this was the danger of broken mines wandering around the space cabin, which could affect the safety of the astronauts as well as electrical circuits and electronic equipment. In addition, NASA banned pencil wood inside spacecraft after the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, as it was a flammable material.
Paul C. Fisher and his company, the Fisher Pen Company, spent $1 million to create what became known as the space pen. However, not one dollar came from NASA's budget. The space agency only became involved in the project once the pen was a reality. In 1965, Fisher patented a pen that could write at any angle and in zero gravity, on virtually any surface, including glass, and in a range of temperatures from -50 Celsius degrees to over 200 Celsiues degrees. In the same year, the American inventor offered the AG-7 Anti-Gravit pen to the space agency, but due to the failures of the first mechanical pencils, the agency was very reluctant to incorporate them into their equipment. However, after rigorous testing, the agency decided to begin using it on its space flights in early 1967.
Press reports indicate that 400 pens were purchased at a price of $6 per unit for the Apollo project and that the Soviet Union also purchased 100 units and 1000 ink cartridges in 1969 for use on the Soyuz spacecraft.
The pen worked as follows: the cartridge was pressurized with nitrogen at 35 psi (241.3 kPa), which was responsible for pushing the ink into the tungsten carbide (also called wolfram carbide) ball at the tip, so it could even be written upside down. The ink used was also different from the conventional ones, as it remained in a solid state until the movement of the pen turned it into a fluid.
You Can Also Buy the Famous Ballpoint Pen
Since then, both American and Russian astronauts have continued to use their products and Fisher has created a complete line of space pens. However, it is not necessary to go into space to make use of one of these, as at a modest price of 60 $ they can be purchased on Amazon.
However, it seems that these pens are not really necessary to be able to write in space. Former Spanish minister (and astronaut) Pedro Duque has written about this phenomenon, saying that a normal ballpoint pen is enough to be able to write.
In short, it was neither the Russian nor the American space agency that came up with the best solution to the problem, but rather a private company and a great idea, debunking the myth that is often told of how the Russians beat the Americans with the simplest method imaginable.
On the other hand, and as the Spanish minister says:
"Sometimes foreseeing things too much prevents making attempts and therefore things are built more complicated".