

Fisher Space Pens
During the first NASA missions the astronauts used pencils. For
Project Gemini, NASA ordered mechanical pencils in 1965,
a project that became very costly and people called it a frivolous
expense.
During this time period, Paul C. Fisher of the Fisher Pen Co.
designed a ballpoint pen that would operate better in the unique
environment of space. His new pen, with a pressurized ink cartridge,
functioned in a weightless environment, underwater, in other liquids,
and in terperature extremes ranging from -50F to +400 F.
Fisher then developed the space pen investing about $1 million of the company's
own funds, patenting the product and cornering the market as a result.
In 1965 when Fisher offered these pens to NASA, the agency hesitated
because of the earlier controversy. After rigourous tests, NASA
managers agreed to equip the Apollo astronauts with these pens. Approximately 400 pens were purchased at $6.00 per unit.
The Soviet Union also purchased 100 Fisher pens, and 1000 cartridges,
in February 1969, for use on its Soyuz sapce flights. Previously,
its cosmonauts had been using grease pencils to write in orbit.
Both American astronauts and Soviet/Russian cosmonauts continue to use this pen.
Fisher continues to market his space pens as the writing instrument
that went to the Moon and has spun off this effort into a separate
corporation, the Fisher Space Pen Co.
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