Is the right panel a tribute to the story of NASA spending millions of dollars to create a pen that works in space while the USSR simply used a pencil?
l-l-lolz said: Is the right panel a tribute to the story of NASA spending millions of dollars to create a pen that works in space while the USSR simply used a pencil?
I think it is referencing the faulty mechanics of Chernobyl.
l-l-lolz said: Is the right panel a tribute to the story of NASA spending millions of dollars to create a pen that works in space while the USSR simply used a pencil?
BS I'm afraid. Both sides used ordinary ballpoints, which work perfectly well in microgravity (as long as there is sufficient air pressure to prevent the ink from boiling, capillary action takes care of the rest). For EVAs, they used grease pencils and slates. Regular graphite pencils weren't used, due to the possibility of conductive shards getting into electronics and shorting things out. Fisher developed the space pen on their own, and sold it to both sides.
BS I'm afraid. Both sides used ordinary ballpoints, which work perfectly well in microgravity (as long as there is sufficient air pressure to prevent the ink from boiling, capillary action takes care of the rest). For EVAs, they used grease pencils and slates. Regular graphite pencils weren't used, due to the possibility of conductive shards getting into electronics and shorting things out. Fisher developed the space pen on their own, and sold it to both sides.
Mostly true except that ordinary ballpoints truly don't work in extreme conditions of outer space. They need special ballpoints for it. But NASA did not make it, Fisher did. He spent over 1 million dollars to develop it. http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
