Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Problem solving: elevator story

[Howard Landman (howard]

> reminds me of the story, possibly apocryphal, about NASA commissioning the
> development of a ball point pen that would work in zero gravity, upside
> down, and in extremes of tempertaure, much money and time later they had
> what they wanted - the Russians used a pencil

Not apocryphal - I've owned and used several of the pen cartidges.
Basically they have pressurized gas behind the (thick) ink, and the
non-writing end of the cartidge is sealed.

Pencils create graphite dust.  Graphite is conductive and can short
electrical equipment.  It can also be breathed in or clog air filters.
I'm not so sure the pens were a bad idea.  Remember that the biggest
cost of anything in space is lifting it there, at $10,000 per pound.
A pencil in orbit costs hundreds of dollars even if it was free on the
ground.  And if the graphite dust caused an equipment failure or even
a fire (graphite will burn), the cost could be - ahem - astronomical.  :-)

        Howard A. Landman
        River Rock Commons
        Fort Collins CO
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