>> Wojtek writes:
>>
>>> If we are telling anecdotes, here is another one. Back
>>> in the 1960s American astronauts found that their ball
>>> point pens did not work in space in a zero-gravity
>>> condition. To fix the problem, NASA spent a few million
>>> $ to invent one that does. The Russians faced the same
>>> problem, of course, but instead of pens, they used pencils.
>>
>> False.
>>
>> http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
>
>
> Not exactly false.
You're funny.
> I think this article greatly exaggerates the danger of a pencil.
- NASA didn't "spend a few million" to invent one - USSR didn't "face the same problem" - USSR used the space pens, too - This is a lousy example in support of Wojtek's point
> And the pen did exceed $1M in development costs.
But not to NASA!
This is the ENTIRE POINT of his little anecdote. And it's ENTIRELY false.
/jordan