On Fri, Nov 08, 2002 at 12:16:23AM -0500, Jon Gabriel wrote: > Leo: "We spent millions of dollars developing a pen that could write in > space. Do you know what the Russians did?" > Josh: "Used a pencil?" > Leo: "Used a pencil." > ~The West Wing~
>From Snopes, http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.htm The lesson of this anecdote is a valid one, that we sometimes expend a great deal of time, effort, and money to create a "high-tech" solution to a problem, when a perfectly good, cheap, and simple solution is right before our eyes. The anecdote offered above isn't a real example of this syndrome, however. Fisher did ultimately develop a pressurized pen for use by NASA astronauts (now known as the famous "Fisher Space Pen"), but both American and Soviet space missions initially used pencils, NASA did not seek out Fisher and ask them to develop a "space pen," Fisher did not charge NASA for the cost of developing the pen, and the Fisher pen was eventually used by both American and Soviet astronauts. .... NASA never asked Paul C. Fisher to produce a pen. When the astronauts began to fly, like the Russians, they used pencils, but the leads sometimes broke and became a hazard by floating in the [capsule's] atmosphere where there was no gravity. They could float into an eye or nose or cause a short in an electrical device. .... All research and developement costs were paid by Paul Fisher. No development costs have ever been charged to the government. .... Sightings: This legend was mentioned in an episode of NBC's The West Wing ("We Killed Yamamoto"; original air date 15 May 2002). -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
