From: g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies   
      
   Okay, so one time? In band camp? Mark Shaw  was all,   
   like:   
   > Lewis  wrote:   
   >> 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.   
      
   > Yep.   
      
   >> > 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.   
      
   > Yep.   
      
   >> >   - from Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier   
      
   >> So, a load of rubbish lacking any research.   
      
   > Yep.   
      
   > NdeGT is still a cool dude. But he bit the tadpole on this one.   
      
   I've never heard "bit the tadpole" before.   
      
   I'm still a little annoyed with NdeGT about the whole Pluto thing.   
      
   --   
   'Where do shadows come from? That's where the wind is blowing!' --Colour   
   of Magic   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)