the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ball point 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 U.S. 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.在二十世紀六十年代,美國和蘇聯正處於太空競賽的白熱化階段,美國航空航天局決定研制壹種圓珠筆,以便在太空艙重力為零的環境下仍然可以書寫。經過大量的研發工作,花費了大約壹百萬美元的成本,太空筆終於研制出來了。那支筆果然可以在太空書寫,在回到地球後,作為壹樣新奇的小玩意兒也確實吸引了壹些目光。 而面臨著同樣難題的蘇聯,則選擇了壹支鉛筆。