This is the True Story Behind NASA’s Adoption of the Space Pen

Amaze Lab

You've probably heard this old anecdote at some point: During the space race of the 1960’s, NASA spent millions upon millions of dollars to develop a pen that could write in space. The Russians just used pencils. It’s a fun story, the problem is it isn’t true.

Transcript

00:00You've probably heard this old anecdote at some point before.

00:06During the space race of the 1960s, NASA spent millions upon millions of dollars to develop

00:11a pen that could write in space.

00:13The Russians just used pencils.

00:15The problem is, while NASA did spend some money on developing a ballpoint pen for space,

00:19when they realized it would be super expensive, they stopped research on it.

00:22And in fact, NASA astronauts used pencils in space for years for that very reason.

00:26That is, until a private company developed a pen that could write in space, and NASA simply

00:30started using those.

00:31But the real question is, why not keep using pencils?

00:34Well Science Hillit reports, when you're floating around in a tiny space capsule, you don't want

00:38any debris floating around you while you do so.

00:41Not only could a piece of snapped pencil lead end up somewhere like, say, your eye, but pencil

00:45shavings could also cause an issue.

00:47And they're flammable.

00:48That's especially important with graphite, as it's electrically conductive, meaning if

00:51it floats into an electronic exchange, it could cause a fire.

00:54Or worse, it could fry a piece of equipment like your life support system.

00:58So the Fisher Pen Company developed the space pen, which was in use for decades.

01:02But now astronauts are back to using pencils, though they're mechanical, which isn't really

01:05a problem anymore, as contemporary air filtration systems are far more sophisticated, and simply

01:10pull the bits of broken graphite out of the air.

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