Hat tip to Shandel at True Life Coaching for emailing me this story.
;When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out thatthepens wouldn’t work at zero gravity. (Ink won’t flow down to the writingsurface). In order to solve this problem, they hired Andersen Consulting(known as Accenture today). It took them one decadeand 12 million dollars. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, under water, in practically any surface including crystal andin a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
The Russians used a pencil.
Update at 3:24 p.m.: Thank you to Ruality for pointing out that this story isn’t um, quite true.
That’s a good story and a good lesson, but it’s not really true. I like the real story better! Paul Fisher saw the problem with lead pencils (both NASA and the USSR used them, but they were problematic when the lead broke). He developed the Space pen and sold it to both countries!
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
The true story is great – what a wonderful combination of ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit!
That’s a good story and a good lesson, but it’s not really true. I like the real story better! Paul Fisher saw the problem with lead pencils (both NASA and the USSR used them, but they were problematic when the lead broke). He developed the Space pen and sold it to both countries!
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp