The Million Dollar Space Pen
Every so often, we come across a famous story that, for whatever reason, has become widespread and commonly believed, even though it is false. Such urban myths are often encountered, but not always understood. So, in an effort to broaden our grasp of the world, we present you with the Multi-Million Dollar Space Pen!
The story goes like this: In the heyday of the space race, NASA astronauts needed to be able to write in space. Unfortunately, the pens the astronauts had didn’t work in a weightless (zero-gravity) environment. So the space agency set about on a costly program that cost millions of dollars, eventually getting the famous space pen so the astronauts could write. In the meantime, the Soviet space agency came across the same problem. But they decided to use pencils.
This story was even told (without any hint that it was false) on the television show The West Wing. Unfortunately, the story is completely false. Not only did NASA not embark upon this program, but the inventor who created the pen out of his own efforts (Paul Fischer), ended up selling his product to every space agency in the world, including the Soviets (now Russia). Before his pen was introduced, both NASA and the Soviets used grease pencils and slate boards to write in space, as the threat of broken pencil lead or wood shavings in a weightless environment was too much of a problem.
The real story of the space pen is a great example of how an individual can invent a product for which there is a need. But, that story is overshadowed by the story of NASA embarking on its costly program.
Whenever we come across an urban myth like this, we often ask: Why was this story believed? Like any urban myth, lots of people often believe these stories, even though they are not true. Smart people, educated people. But why? What about this story makes it so believable?
We think there are several reasons, but we’ll let you come up with your own ideas before we tell you ours.
What do you think? Why are urban myths spread so easily, even when they are easily debunked. (For an absolutely superb myth debunking site, visit Snopes.com. )
(Photo courtesy Buglugs’s Flickr site, granted through Creative Commons license. Thanks, Buglugs!)