[carlosaguayo]

Reminded me about the story of the pen and pencil in the moon.

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-nasa-spen

[vecinu]

People still believe this myth? Especially on HN?

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

[Groxx]

Which is covered in the second paragraph of the article:

>This tale with its message of simplicity and thrift--not to mention a failure of common sense in a bureaucracy--floats around the Internet, hopping from in-box to in-box, and even surfaced during a 2002 episode of the West Wing. But, alas, it is just a myth.

And anyway (also covered in both the article and Snopes):

>Pencils may not have been the best choice anyway. The tips flaked and broke off, drifting in microgravity where they could potentially harm an astronaut or equipment.

And the article ends back at square 1, with a new, cheaper space pen which the Soviets also purchased because pencils are problematic in space:

>According to an Associated Press report from February 1968, NASA ordered 400 of Fisher's antigravity ballpoint pens for the Apollo program. A year later, the Soviet Union ordered 100 pens and 1,000 ink cartridges to use on their Soyuz space missions, said the United Press International. The AP later noted that both NASA and the Soviet space agency received the same 40 percent discount for buying their pens in bulk. They both paid $2.39 per pen instead of $3.98.

[BHSPitMonkey]

The variation cited there which says "The astronaut needed a pen that would write in the vacuum of space" was especially painful to read.

[tikhonj]

Think of it not as a myth but as an amusing allegory.

[jbooth]

Because it's not truth that matters, it's truthiness. I don't need facts I can understand with my brain, I need facts that I can understand with my gut.

[alexlitov]

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp