Goverment Spending. A Joke

[beemerb]

During the heat of the space race in the 1960's, the U.S. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ball point
pen to write in the zero gravity confines of its space capsules.

After considerable research and development, the Astronaut Pen was
developed at a cost of about $1 million U.S. The pen worked and also
enjoyed some modest success as a novelty item back here on Earth.

The Soviet Union, faced with the same problem, used a pencil.

 

[Medic]

And just think, most of that R&D probably occured while sitting on a $10,000 toilet seat!

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Admit Nothing,
Deny Everything,
Make Counter Accusations

 

[Greg L]

Hey, I've got one of those sitting in a box somewhere. Got it as a Christmas present, damn thing didn't work. Supposedly the ink is in a sealed tube that is pumped up to 100 or more psi which in theory will push the ink out in space. On mine it seemed to push the ball so hard that it wouldn't roll and let the ink out.

 

[jeffer]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by beemerb:
The Soviet Union, faced with the same problem, used a pencil.[/quote]
Now there's a rocket scientist for ya.