When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity.
To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 C.
The Russians used a pencil.
Nikolay Aleksandrovich KozyrevBorn 2 Sep 1908.Russian astronomer who claimed to have discovered volcano-like activity on the Moon. His sightings of apparent gaseous emissions from the lunar surface challenged the long-held theory that the Moon is a dead and inert celestial body. For years, amateur astronomers have reported seeing strange colors on the moon, especially in the Alphonsus and Aristarchus regions. These types of observations gained credibility when on 13 Nov 1958, Kozyrev saw a brightening at the central peak in the crater Alphonsus. He photographed its spectrum, which showed carbon-vapor emissions. |
