There is a common myth out there involving NASA. During the original space program it is said that NASA spent an exorbitant amount of funds on a pen that could write in the conditions of space. The punch-line typically involves "The Russian used a pencil." It's good for a few laughs, it makes us feel like rocket scientists really aren't much smarter than us. But is it true? Well, kind of....
There was a space pen, it could write upside down underwater on greasy paper in zero gravity. Such a neat gizmo would have been perfect for taking with the astronauts up in space, but it wasn't developed with government funds, actually, it wasn't sanctioned or developed by any government at all. A young American Industrialist named Paul C. Fisher is to credit with the invention. It was manufactured right here in the USA in Boulder City, Nevada, you know, when we
had an industry, but that's neither here nor there.
Naturally NASA came into possession of these wonder pens, but had nothing to do with their creation. However, they
did begin working on a pen that met all those specifications. But when the costs quickly began to add up and the usefulness of such a device seemed short lived, they went back to pencils, just like the Russians.
"
The ballpoint is made from tungsten carbide
and is precisely fitted in order to avoid leaks. A sliding float separates the ink from the pressurized gas. The thixotropic
ink in the hermetically sealed
and pressurized reservoir is able to write for three times longer than a standard ballpoint pen. The pen can write at altitudes up to 12,500 feet (3800 m). The ink is forced out by compressed nitrogen at a pressure of nearly 35 psi
(240 kPa
). Operating temperatures range from −30 to 250 °F (−35 to 120 °C). The pen has an estimated shelf life of 100 years." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen
Well if you're anything like me that's just not enough to know that it was a myth, now that I know it existed and how high tech it actually was for the times I just
had to know more about the man behind the pen, Paul C. Fisher himself. I happened across an interview with him and let me tell ya, he is one interesting fellow.
He started working with the ball point pen in 1945 trying to improve it. He began his journey at Milton Reynolds, where he actually told his boss, "the pens are no good at all, the basic principle is no good, I cannot be a part of it." He had worked with the pen for two days, trying to make it better and it just seemed unsolvable. The pens went to market, sold for 12.50 a piece, and the return line was just as long as the sales line. The pens were a bust, they leaked everywhere. Mr. Reynolds didn't seem to mind however as he raked in about 5 million dollars on the bunk stationary.
So how'd Paul get back to the pen he walked away from? Well Mr. Reynolds couldn't continue selling a terrible product, after awhile nobody would buy it. So he hired Paul's friend to design a new pen but his friend found himself overwhelmed and quickly enlisted Paul's help. Together the two made a new ball point pen, that while not perfect, was certainly better than the alternative. He has been working on the pen ever since.
In 1965 they were approached by NASA. Turns out that pencils were dangerous on long space flights (no not because they're afraid an astronaut will poke their eye out, sheesh.) because of the debris left behind from the shavings. Even mechanical pencils can prove fatal to the sensitive instruments if a piece of lead breaks off unknowingly. So they needed a pen, and who better than Paul Fisher to make it? The problem? He didn't think he could do it.
Well, call it divine intervention or just one heck of a good dream, Paul actually claims the idea came to him in a dream. His father, deceased at the time, told him to use rosin. He told this to their chemist who laughed. I mean, who hasn't thought of that before right? A few weeks later the chemist came back and said he tried resin instead and it kept the pen from oozing. Paul called NASA and agreed to take the contract.
During an interview about the invention of the pen, the interviewer asked Paul about a headline in a newspaper in the 60's. "Vienna Pen Saves Moon Mission", here is the totally awesome story straight from Paul's mouth:
Paul C. Fisher: Yes, it was during the Apollo 11 flight. In 1969, the astronauts were on the moon, and I was in Vienna because my partner and I owned a pen manufacturing plant there. Anyway, what happened was that one of the astronauts' backpacks had collided with the plastic arming switch used to start the jets to blast off from the moon. The astronauts were in the lunar lander and they had already discarded the tools onto the lunar surface, they had closed and sealed the hatch and re-pressurized the space craft. They found out that they couldn't throw the arming switch! They had no tools and they couldn't figure out how to start the lander! They called the engineers back at Mission Control. Mission Control called Grumman Aircraft, and one of the electricians on Earth figured out that if he took the Fisher Space Pen (the Fisher Space Pen zero gravity, the AG-7 zero gravity pen) which was in his pocket, and if he retracted the point, he was able to use the pen casing to throw the switch. The Engineer told this to Grumman, they called Mission Control, and Mission Control told the guys on the moon, and it worked! The story was all over Vienna, and the headlines said Vienna Pen Saves Moon Program. But when I got back to the USA, nobody had heard the story! So it was really an amazing occurrence, and the Space Pen was used to save the mission. Interestingly, NASA never told their negative stories to the press, and so I couldn't confirm the story for a while. But if you're old enough you'll recall that when the guys came back from the moon, they were quarantined.
Paul C. Fisher, born October 10th, 1913, died October 20th, 2006. But before you went you showed the world that the pen truly was, while not mightier than the sword necessarily, a worthy adversary.
