The myth about (NASA's) space pen and the Russian pencil

I am sick of the anecdote of NASA spending millions of dollars developing a high-tech writing pen that could function in microgravity, while the crafty and resource-strapped Soviets simply gave their cosmonauts a pencil. Great parable, isn't it? It really underscores the wisdom of not overthinking the problem (and certainly not wasting technical resources on the "slick" solution).

IT folks in particular have heard this tale more than their fair share since it seems to apply directly to engineering problems -- not to mention its appeal to budget-obsessed managers. It's too bad then that it's a load of science fiction.

The first writing implements NASA sent into space were, in fact, pencils. The same was true of all early Soviet spaceflights. This was also incredibly stupid.

While pencils might have the advantage of being microgravity-effective, they also have the disadvantage of their construction. Two relatively flammable materials -- wood and graphite -- were only more dangerous in the 100-percent oxygen environment present in all pre-Apollo manned NASA spacecraft. Add in the fact that broken graphite tips become airborne irritants in zero-G, and pencils are actually a pretty dumb thing to send into space no matter how cost-effective they might seem.

So, NASA spent some money trying to develop a better pencil, creating some highly expensive oversized mechanical pencils for use by astronauts. The final product was an average $1.75 mechanical pencil mechanism placed in a special housing large enough for astronauts to use while wearing thick spacesuit gloves, strong enough that they wouldn't shatter and create microgravity debris, and light enough not to significantly impact spacecraft weight constraints.

The final cost? Those space-worthy pencils cost $128.84 in 1965 dollars -- a fact that came to the attention of Congress and the media, both of which found the figure excessive.

In reaction to the pencil controversy, NASA sought bids for cheaper writing implements for space missions. It found a suitable ink pen independently developed by a private manufacturer -- the Fisher Pen Company -- with no input or financial support from the space agency.

These now-famous "space pens" were actually cheaper than NASA's homegrown pencils by a significant margin, and the original lot of NASA-procured space pens cost the agency far less than the purported millions it mythically spent to develop the devices.