American space handle. Why doesn't a regular ballpoint pen write in space? Is it true that a regular ballpoint pen doesn't write in space?

: NASA did not spend millions of dollars on the development of a pen, writing in space, and a pencil was enough. But when Paul Fisher, at his own expense, invented a sealed pen that not only writes in space, but also in the depths of the ocean, NASA bought 400 pens at $ 6 apiece.

Until the second half of the 1960s, American astronauts used mechanical pencils and felt-tip pens for writing, while Soviet cosmonauts used oil pencils. All of these tools did not do their job well enough. The problem was solved by an American entrepreneur and inventor Paul Fisherand it is completely free for the space agencies of both countries.

Born in 1913 in Kansas into a Methodist priest's family, Paul practiced many professions in his youth: salesman, truck driver, accountant and mechanic. In 1945, he was offered to invest in a Chicago-based company producing a technological innovation - ballpoint pens. Having twisted the product in his hands, Paul refused - it seemed to him that the handle would leak. Later it turned out that, although the pens did indeed flow, in the first three months the factory brought its shareholders more than $ 5 million. The idea of \u200b\u200bproducing perfect ballpoint pens captured Paul, and in 1948 he founded his own company - Fisher pen... The first successful product became the Bullet Pen - a streamlined chrome-plated pen that is now considered one of the icons modern design... The pens were still leaking, and Fischer tested over 10,000 prototypes in the process. He was one of the first to suggest using a single cartridge (rod) for different models pens (earning your first million on this).

In 1961, the space age began with flight. Paul Fischer had already realized then that man cannot do without reliable writing instruments, even in space. On his own initiative, he began developing the space pen. To ensure the supply of paste to the ball in zero gravity, he made a cartridge with a gas pressure and a special piston. This pen wrote in any position, but ... it still flowed. After almost three more years of testing, Fischer replaced the paste with a thixotropic gel: its viscosity decreased with the rotation of the ball, it became liquid and easily wrote on any surfaces, and when the ball stopped rotating, it thickened. In 1966, Fisher received Patent No. 3,285,228 for the Anti-Gravity Pen and sent samples to NASA, where they were tested and approved.

A batch of 400 "data pens" of the Fisher AG-7 model for the Apollo and Skylab programs cost NASA $ 6 apiece. And in 1969 the USSR bought 100 handles and 1000 rods for them for use on the Soyuz ships and later on the Mir station. Both deals did not bring superprofits to Fischer, but he got the opportunity to advertise his product as a pen "that writes in any conditions, even in space" - and this brought fame and fortune to the inventor. Anyone can buy exactly the same pen that has been in space and on the moon for 40 years.

One very old story says: in the 60s and 70s, NASA spent millions of dollars to develop a pen that could write in space, and in the Soviet Union ... they decided to just use a pencil. The phrase brings a smile and makes you wonder, is it true?

Is it true that a regular ballpoint pen doesn't write in space?

Yes, indeed, it is impossible to write with an ordinary ballpoint pen in zero gravity. The explanation is very simple: there is no gravity in space, which on Earth pushes ink to the ball, and then to the paper.

Why not a pencil?

An ordinary pencil, as it turned out, is a very convenient, but unsafe, means for writing in space. It's all about weightlessness and the property of pencils to break and leave dust. In the absence of gravity, graphite fragments can not only get into the eyes and airways astronauts, but even harm technology.

What the astronauts wrote

Until 1967, both Americans and Russians wrote with pencils. The Americans bought ordinary mechanical pencils (with a thin lead and a button) for $ 128 (!) Apiece. Soviet cosmonauts were supplied wax crayons (like crayons). But both approaches had their drawbacks. Write regular pencil it was dangerous because of small fragments of graphite flying in the air, and writing in small pieces was inconvenient because of too thick lines.

The Fisher Space Pen

In 1965, engineer Paul Fisher developed and patented a pen that worked in zero gravity. Moreover, according to NASA, the pen could write not only in zero gravity, but also under water, as well as at temperatures from -45 ° c to 200 ° c. Since 1967, NASA began equipping astronauts with Fisher pens, each costing the agency at (according to other sources). Since 1969 Soviet Union also gave up using pencils and bought 100 of these pens. The principle of their operation was quite simple, each pen used:

• More viscous ink that liquefies only when the ball moves
• Pressurized cartridge
• Ball made of extra strong materials and positioned with great precision

What are astronauts writing now?

Here, it would seem, everything is simple - pencils are inconvenient and unsafe, which means that all astronauts write with pens. But nothing happened! According to Hero of Russia, pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Baturin, russian cosmonauts in orbit still write with pencils!

We take any pens with us, but we still make entries in the logbook with a pencil. It is more comfortable.

Pretty soon after I moved to the USA, I heard entertaining story... As a boy and, I really liked her then, because she was A) About space, and B) About how stupid Americans are, and Russians are so smart:

During the development of the space program, NASA faced a problem: ordinary ballpoint pens do not write in zero gravity. And then the agency attracted the best scientists in the country, and spent several million dollars of taxpayers in order to develop a special "space pen". This miracle of technology could write in zero gravity and vacuum, in heat and cold, and in general it was the best handle times and peoples. Meanwhile, the Soviet leadership provided their astronauts with simple and cheap pencils.

This beautiful bike underlines for the American layman the wit and ingenuity of the Soviet people, in contrast to the wasteful straightforwardness of "their" people. But, as it turned out, this story completely reversed the essence of the "space pen" (which was really developed, and for a lot of money).

Inventor Paul Fischer started a pen company in the late 1940s and caught the "space fever" of the time in the 1960s. In those years, mankind advanced into space by leaps and bounds, overcoming one line after another. It seemed that there were a couple of decades left before the colonies on the moon and cities on Mars. And Fischer decided to design a pen for space. He did this with private money, and on his own initiative. It is very likely that the development really cost him a million dollars ...

The first American astronauts, like the Soviet cosmonauts, used pencils. NASA even ordered a special batch of 30 mechanical pencils from a private supplier. However, due to the special requests of the agency, and the small volume of the order, each of these pencils cost the taxpayers $ 130! When this story was made public, a small scandal erupted, after which American astronauts were forced to switch to writing instruments "simpler".

Who knows what it is wrapped around them?

Pencils, although they write well in zero gravity, present their own number of problems. The graphite in the pencil shaft tends to crumble, and the resulting dust floats freely inside the spacecraft. Moreover, graphite is a conductor of electricity, and theoretically, this dust could close some important circuit.

And then in 1966 Fisher came to NASA with his invention. Its technology is not very complicated, but it is well executed: the ink in the pen shaft is under pressure from compressed nitrogen, so it can really write from any angle, and in zero gravity.

After the scandal with mechanical pencils, officials did not immediately decide to purchase new miracle pens. This took two years of testing and inspection. However, in 1968, NASA bought a batch of 400 "space pens" from Fischer. Various sources cite prices ranging from three to six dollars apiece.

A year later, in 1969, the USSR bought pens for its astronauts from Fischer's company. Thrifty Russians bought a hundred pens, and a thousand rods for new program, called Union!

Here one could ask a little with bewilderment, is this Fischer such a fool? Even if he sold two thousand pens to the cosmonauts of the USSR and the United States, even if for $ 10, it is still $ 20,000 in sales! But how did he recoup the spent million?

Don't worry about Fischer. He did not remain at a loss. He was selling the Fisher Space Pen to simple, grounded, buyers. Having patented his space pen, he became the sole supplier to two of the world's major space programs. In the era of space fever, who could wish for better publicity ?! By selling these pens, Fischer has repaid his investment many times over.

Fischer's company still sells them! The same "astronautical" pen costs $ 60 on their website today. So the history of the space pen is the history of the prosperity of private business, and not at all about the extravagance and stupidity of the Americans ...

More interesting about the USA

Which says that “NASA had to spend several million dollars to develop a special pen that can write in space. Meanwhile, the Russians, with their characteristic ingenuity, used simple pencils". But it is not so. Until the second half of the 1960s, American astronauts used felt-tip pens or mechanical pencils to write down, while Soviet cosmonauts used oil pencils. However, they also had their drawbacks. Firstly, in zero gravity conditions in the event of a breakdown, small parts could harm a person, and secondly, materials that were flammable in nature were used for the manufacture.

In the same 1960s, American inventor and entrepreneur Paul Fisher and his Fisher Space Pen Company invested a million dollars in the development of what is now known as "Space Fisher." The device, patented in 1965, can write upside down in temperatures from -45 ° C to +200 ° C, and even under water.

Legendary Fisher Space Pen - AG7-40

Legendary Fisher Space Pen - 375 bullet

In 1968, Fischer invited NASA to try his invention. After that, the AG7 Space Pen was accepted by the American and Soviet (later Russian) space agencies for further use.

Today, the Fisher Space Pen company makes pens for both astronauts and ordinary people... Every earthling can buy them - the cost is from $ 25 to $ 60. Their most expensive pen is dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the legendary landing on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronaut team.

To attract more buyers, they even launched an advertising campaign "Fisher Space Pen", which hit adme.ru.

It is interesting that the Soviet inventor M.I. Klevtsov also developed a similar ballpoint pen. But due to the sluggishness of the officials of the Ministry of Instrumentation, which was in charge of the manufacturers of fountain pens, the United States had time earlier. There the fountain pen is patented and is produced in mass circulation, which has long since recouped the costs of its development.

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