The pen thing is an urban myth. Most ball pens do work in zero gravity, it's pressure differences that cause problems, and that's what the money was spent on - for use by fighter pilots etc. rather than astronauts. It was also largely funded by industry on the basis that they'd be able to sell them to the USAF and gullible civilians as well as NASA, which is a ridiculously small market.
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Date: 2004-11-23 01:50 am (UTC)