Myth

While the Americans spent millions developing a pen that could be used in zero gravity, the Russians opted for the very low cost option of using a pencil.

Reality

The story has such good legs (it runs and runs) because its classic tale of American excess versus Russian ingenuity. The real truth is that BOTH Cosmanauts and Astronauts used pencils in the early missions. However, the danger of broken graphite floating around that pens were used instead.

The real myth is that you need a special kind of pen to write in space because you are likely to be writing upside down. But in reality, its only in a gravity enviroment that you need a presurised pen to push the ink up and out. In a zero gravity enviroment the simple capillary action works just fine. So the cheapest Bic would be fine.

Tags: nasa pens, cosmonauts, pencils, space