On Aug 2, 3:17 pm, "Jonathan" wrote:
An article in Scientific American does some myth-busting.

Fact or Fiction?: NASA Spent Millions to Develop a Pen that
Would Write in Space, whereas the Soviet Cosmonauts
Used a Pencil

"The problem of weightless writing was not solved by either
Soviet central planning or good old American sub-contracting,
but by a private investor and a good idea"
By Ciara Curtinhttp://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=9CF01C5C-E7F2-99DF-3EEFFCD...

I have been using Fischer Space Pens all of my life. Although NASA
spent "millions" on the development, the pen has practical uses on the
ground. SInce it is pressurized you can write while lying down or even
upside down. You cannot do that with a regular ballpoint pen.

Matthew Ota