Americans, The good, the bad, the truth...

[DaBoneHead]

This is a true story...

During the height of the space race, NASA decided that it needed to develop a pen that could write under near zero gravity conditions. The common pen's ink is gravity fed, therefore making them useless in space capsules that are orbiting the earth. After 1 1/2 years of research and nearly three million dollars spent in development, NASA finally had themselves a pen that worked under near zero gravity.

The Russians, faced with the same problem as the Americans, decided to use a pencil.

~~~~~~~~~

Kinda gives new insite to 'The American way'. What do you'll think about the above... And it is true!

Linear-thinkers, or willing to spend enough to have the very best?

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Is a pencil acceptable for recording scientific data?

 

[Digobick]

That same pen also writes underwater. I'd like to see a pencil do that.

 

[Farbio]

lol, sounds about right...although the space pens are pretty cool

 

[TomC25]

pencil fades away - less permanent

they could have used a marker

or crayon - haha

 

[FrogDog]

Is that the one Jack Clompus (sp?) has on Seinfeld?

 

[Eli]

LMAO ...

 

[Russ]

DaBoneHead,

I owe you an apology. I recently called DABANSHEE, "DaBoneHead". I had no idea that I was insulting an existing member to such a terrible degree.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Shazam]

Pencils are inappropriate for writing down scientific data.

 

[DaBoneHead]

hmmm,

never thought about that. I just thought the story either epitomized single-minded thinking, or that America tends to throw its money away.

I don't know if three million dollars is justified to avoid creating 'erasable' (sp?) data. But dang it! If NASA did it then it has to be right, RIGHT!

 

[DAM]

dabonehead, are you trying to say something? cause if you are, just come right up and say it.


dont beat around the bush man.




dam(we want bush)

 

[DaBoneHead]

Ok, DAM, I will! (one baghead to another)

I've used this story for several years, since I read about it in Reader's Digest to demonstrate "What Lateral Thinking Isn't".

I always envisioned this scenario taking shape as some NASA big-wig guy in a meeting saying 'We need a space-pen!', and all the little "yes" men saying "sure thing boss!". Rather than someone suggesting a reasonable alternative, money was thrown at the problem until it was either buried or resolved. Meanwhile, the Russians decide to weigh all their options (build it, steal it, buy it), and decide to do something totally cheap and practical (which, in my opinion, is very un-american).

I have seen too many times in America (and I am American), that people throw money at problems in hopes of resolution, rather than really address the issue, and this seems one of those.

So DAM, that was what I was getting at. Or I could have just been making noise... GO FIGURE!

 

[JellyBaby]

Waste is a huge problem in any country with high tax rates like the US. I wish some of the older members of this BBS would open their eyes -- many of them still completely trust the government and always will. I don't. Get 'em out of places they don't belong, I say. As for NASA, well I guess if we have these huge federal programs we should expect them to waste our money, right? Just like welfare, just like social security.

 

[Capn]

Hmn, Soviets used a pencil look where they are now. U.S. used a 3million dollar pen and we're doing great. Obviously we owe our present state to a very expensive pen.

Anyways, read this article I found. Says the Russians buy the space pens too.



<< HOW THE FISHER SPACE PEN HELPED APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUTS ARMSTRONG AND ALDRIN
RETURN SAFELY FROM THE MOON

Boulder City, NV -- It's a story that for many weeks was not circulated
outside the inner circles of the U.S. Space Program: the Fisher Space Pen
helped the original Apollo 11 Moon-landing astronauts, Neil Armstrong and
Edwin (&quot;Buzz&quot Aldrin get back to Earth.

A NASA spokesman recounted the story to Paul C. Fisher, who manufactured
the pen.

When about to leave the moon, and the astronauts were climbing back into
the Lunar Module, the personal life support system (PLSS) backpack on one
of the astronauts brushed against a plastic arming switch and broke it.
The switch was to have activated the LM's ascent engine for the module's
rendevous with the Command Module.

Aldrin informed flight controllers at the Manned Space Center (now the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) in Houston by radio. Flight controllers
went to work on the problem immediately by breaking the plastic switch on
a duplicate module and then studying the possibility of reaching a tiny
metal strip inside the switch.

The strip had to be flipped over to one side to activate the LM engine,
but flight controllers knew the astronauts had dispensed with pratically
all tools in the interest of less weight. But the astronauts had their
Space Pens, so they were advised to retract the point and use the hollow
end of the pen to flip the inside of the switch.

So Aldrin activated the switch's inner workings and they were able to
leave the Moon.

The story came out after John McLeish, a NASA PAO (Public Affairs
Officer), was quarantined with Armstrong, Aldrin and Mike Collins after
the crew's return from the Moon. McLeish told Paul Fisher of the
emergency on the Moon, related to him by the crew. &quot;If it hadn't been
for Fisher's Space Pen, Armstrong and Aldrin might still be up there on
the Moon.&quot;

On July 19, 1984, at a dinner held at the Windsor Court Hotel in New
Orleans, Louisiana to commemorate the 15th anniversary of man's first
landing on the Moon, Dr. Buzz Aldrin confirmed the story to Paul Fisher
that he and Armstrong had in fact used the Fisher Space Pen as a tool to
turn on the broken switch which activated the ascent engine to propel the
Lunar Module from the surface of the Moon.

The early astronauts used pencils for note taking because there were no
Space Pens and no other pens would work in space. With astronauts in
mind, Paul Fisher developed what he called his &quot;Space Pen,&quot; a pen that
would write under weightless conditions and in the vacuum of space.

It required years of research to develop the pen that writes in space,
under water, at +400 F and in freezing temperatures below -50 F.

The key was a new kind of ink with thixotropic, viscoelastic, strongly
cohesive and adhesive qualities. It has the consistency of chewing gum
and does not ooze around the ball even under pressure. The shearing
action of the revolving ball liquefies the ink. A pressurized ink
cartridge, using nitrogen gas, pushes the ultra thick ink against the
pen's ball, which rolls the ink onto the paper.

The shearing action of the revolving ball turning against the writing
substance thins the ink, permitting it to write smoothly and more
dependably.


THE STORY BEHIND THE FISHER SPACE PEN

The Fisher Space Pen with its sealed pressurized ink cartridge was
selected by NASA (after rigorous testing) for use on all manned space
flights because it is the only type of pen that will write satisfactorily
in the gravity-free void, freezing cold (-50 F) and extreme heat (+400 F)
of Space.

Since 1967, Fisher Space Pens have been used by the Astronauts on all
manned space flights -- even those to the Moon. They are also purchased
by the Russian Government and used by the Cosmonauts on all Soyuz flights.

Nitrogen-powered, the ink in the replacable Space Pen cartridge is
positively fed to the tungsten carbide ball by gas pressurized at about
40 pounds per square inch. The Fisher Space Pen will write at any angle,
even upside down.
The Fisher Space Pen Company believes it to be the world's smoothest and
most dependable pen.

Pressurization required the development of a new special viscoelastic ink
(like thick rubber cement). It is also highly thixotropic, which prevents
oozing through it's highly precision, stainless steel point.

The revolving tungsten carbide ball liquefies the thixotropic ink,
allowing the Fisher Space Pen to write smoothly and dependably on most
surfaces, even under water.

Paul Fisher invested more than $2 Million dollars in perfecting these pens
(EDITOR'S NOTE: sounds to me like private funds, NOT taxpayer's dollars,
although I can't confirm that fact -- JS).

Ordinary ball pens rely on gravity to feed the ink and need a small hole
in the top of the refill through which the ink can evaporate or leak.
There is no hole in the hermetically sealed Space Pens. Evaporation,
wasted ink and back leakage are eliminated and shelf-life is increased
>from a normal two years to an estimated 100 years.

For more information, contact the Fisher Space Pen Company, 711 Yucca
Street, Boulder City, NV 89005
>>



this was from this page
Another site about Fisher space pen (from some sort of management study)
Another site with some nifty graphics

 

[DaBoneHead]

TOO FUNNY!

I WILL NEVER AGAIN DOUBT WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM ANANDTECH FORUMS!

LOL!

Ok, so now where can I get a fisher space pen!

 

[yakko]

I heard this story on Paul Harvey about two years ago and I still crack up about it.

 

[Triumph]

hasn't everyone heard this before?

 

[pastee]

Americans, we like having top notch quality....and feeling like nothing can stop our technology. Can we ask more?

 

[DABANSHEE]

The Space pen has only been used by the Russians since the US started financing the Russian space program.

 

[dennilfloss]

And now...toilet seats for the Air Force!

Peter, Peter (The Royal Kings)

 

[Ronstang]

1. A sharp pencil flying around a small place becomes a dangerous projectile.

2. Pencil leads break.

3. Pencils need to be sharpened, sharpener takes up extra space and weight and if you loose it no more writing utensil.

4. Sharpening a pencil creates a waste product that needs to be disposed of.

While these properties may not seem to important to someone sitting at their desk studying for a test they take on a whole new meaning inside a small space capsule where space is at a premium and safety at the utmost.

 

[Farbio]

to quote id4, 'what, you think it actually costs $10,000 for a hammer and $40,000 for a toilet seat?'

 

[sandorski]

True enough, pencils are not a very permanent form of recording data, but I'd hazzard a guess that the Soviets had figured out how to perserve those records. Since most Soviet space missions lasted well within the parameters of pencil lead durability, by the time the mission ended back on Earth, it would be a simple matter to simply copy the data with a pen!

There are more examples of Soviet practicality and Western impracticality, but the impracticality of the west did allow new technology which has paid off in developement of new products and helped to discover even more technology.