From: g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies   
      
   Okay, so one time? In band camp? Mark Shaw  was all,   
   like:   
   > "During the heat of the space race in the 1960s, the US National   
   > Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ballpoint   
   > 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 approximately $1 million US.   
      
   This is not true.   
      
   > 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."   
      
   This is also not true. The pen, which was not developed by NASA but was   
   rather given to them by, IIRC, Parker, was also used by the soviets   
   because pencils contain graphite and graphite in a zero-G environment is   
   rather dangerous.   
      
   >   - from Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier   
      
   So, a load of rubbish lacking any research.   
      
   --   
   The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a   
   replacement.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)