In the space race with Russia, there came a time when the US realized that normal pens would not work in weightlessness.
So, they spent $$$ on R&D and came up with an answer.
Million$ of tax dollar$ later, the Space Pen was used by Astronauts. Now, the general public can buy them.
The Russians came up with a simpler solution.
They used a pencil.
Steve
I also heard this story and it sounds great, but, IIRC, it is not actually true. Nevertheless, in all my projects, I try to remember the pencil story.
Best you inform MS, they've been bombarding us with a ad campaign based on this anecdote..
Not only is that a myth, but they are a good pen, they write in the rain, upside down, would probably work underwater. and they are not expensive. I've had them for years, worked fantastic when I used to take inventory outside, rain, snow, any angle of the clip board. gary
Yep, and their plant is (was) in Boulder City, about ten miles from me.
Steve
One of my techs brought me a Spacepen - still going strong almost
15 years later /markSteveB wrote:
OK, we've got a pen that will write in the rain, now we need paper that will stand up in the rain :-)
Bob
Their black ink pens write much better than the blue ones. I'm not sure why though
"SteveB" wrote in news:J%mhf.1633$1x.1147@fed1read06:
Did anyone ever question the problems that would have been created by all that loose graphite floating around in a space capsule? (If it were true!)
It's amazing how many times this gets repeated.
(1) NASA used pencils up until the time of the Apollo fire. They paid $128 each for them.
(2) Fisher developed the Space Pen independently and had trouble getting NASA to buy it. Subsequent to the Apollo fire NASA adopted it due to it having less flammable material in it than the $128 pencils. They paid $6 each for the Space Pens.
(3) In 1969 the Russian space agency adopted the Fisher Space Pen.
(4) I am not sure when the Fisher Space Pen became available to the public, but I bought one at the local stationers prior to 1972.
(5) In 1998 the QVV shopping network's first sale from Mir was a Fisher Space Pen.
Where has this bombardment occurred? Jurgen Geck, representing SUSE Linux, is the one who brought it up at a panel discussion, claiming that Windows was like a Space Pen and Linux was like a pencil.
Interesting though how one urban legend breeds another.
As kids, a friend and I wanted to catch chipmunks in a park. I began designing a trap after some of the rodent traps I had seen, the kind with a cage, a trap door, and bait. After much scribbling, I thought of taking a rope, forming a noose, and placing it over their hole. So when the chipmunk's little head popped up to look around, I simply tugged on the rope and presto catcho, easy as pie. (After our successful hunt, we let them go.) The key was taking into consideration a simple detail of the circumstance.
Whether or not that pen versus pencil thing is a myth, I am a believer that such things do happen, simple solutions can be overlooked.
Actually, Windows is like a personal computer operating system and Linux is like a server operating system. And that's the way it is.
Like putting pure oxygen into a confined space with electricity, flammable wiring coating, flammable space suits, flammable seat cushions ........
Were those engineers ever fired? Probably promoted.
Steve
Which brings to prurient mind:
I can remember using one in my youth, to "read the pumps" in my uncle's gas station. They would work upside down.
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