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Explanation of the
Fisher Space Pen Refill. Why Space Pens write
in extreme heat and cold. Why Space Pens can
write underwater. How a Fisher Space Pen Helped Armstrong and Aldrin Return from the Moon It's a story that for many weeks was not circulated outside the inner circles of the U.S. Space Program: the Fisher Space Pen helped the original Moon-landing astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, get back to Earth. A spokesman for NASA recounted the story to Paul C. Fisher, whose company manufactured the pen. When about to leave the moon, and the astronauts were climbing back into the Lunar Module, the life support backpack on one of the astronauts brushed against the plastic arming switch and broke it. The switch was to have activated the LM's engines for the module's rendezvous with the mother spacecraft. Aldrin informed Houston's Space Center by radio. A Scientist went to work on the problem immediately by breaking the plastic switch on a duplicate module and then studying the possibility of reaching a tiny metal strip inside the switch.
The story came out after John McLeish, a NASA public relations official, was quarantined with Armstrong and Aldrin upon the Astronauts' return from their space trip. McLeish told Fisher of the emergency on the moon, related to him by the astronauts. "If it hadn't been for Fisher Space Pens, the astronauts, Armstrong and Aldrin, might still be up there on the Moon." The early astronauts used pencils for note taking because there were no Space Pens and no other pens would work in space. With the astronauts in mind, Fisher developed what he called his "Space Pen," a pen that would write under weightless conditions and in the vacuum of space. |
... And Today
MIR Cosmonauts Use Fisher Space
Pens For Their Writing Needs
Russian MIR Commander Anatoly Solovyev Jun 7-17, 1988: Soyuz
TM-5/MIR Space Station Commander Anatoly Solovyev has logged
652 days in space, which is the second longest of any US or Russian
astronaut. Commander Solovyev holds the current world record for EVA's
(ExtraVehicular Activities, commonly known as space walks) at
16. MIR cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradow (L) and
Commander Anatoly Solovyev (R) are shown floating their Fisher Space
Pen Model #AG7E aboard Soyuz TM-26 (Aug 5, 1997 - Feb 19, 1998), which
rendezvoused with Shuttle Mission Atlantis STS-86 and STS-89 Endeavour. The
Anti-Gravity capable Fisher Space Pen made its maiden voyage in October
1968 aboardApollo VII commanded by Wally Schirra and has been used on
all manned US space flights since that time. The AG7E Space Pen
is the very same model that saved the Apollo XI mission when the Engine
Arming Switch was broken and the only tool available was their Space
Pen (see story above). Copyright © 2001 Jim Jobin
- The Writer's Edge
Actual
AG7E Space Pen Floating
in it's original gift box
Feb 11 - Aug 9, 1990: Soyuz TM-9/MIR Space Station
Jul 27, 1992 - Feb 1, 1993: Soyuz TM-15/MIR Space Station
Jun 27 - Sep 11, 1995: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-71/MIR landing
in Soyuz TM-21 Capsule
Aug 5, 1997 - Feb 19, 1998: Soyuz TM-26/MIR; Visiting Shuttles:
STS-86 Atlantis, STS-89 Endeavour
The Story Behind the
The Fisher Space Pen with its sealed pressurized
ink cartridge was selected by NASA (after rigorous testing) for use
on all manned space flights because it is the only type of pen that
will write satisfactorily in freezing cold (-50 degrees F) and extreme
heat (+400 degrees F) and in the gravity-free vacuum of Space. Since
1967, Fisher Space Pens have been used by the Astronauts on all manned
space flights -- even those to the Moon. They are also used by the Russian
Cosmonauts on the Soyuz space flights and on the MIR Space Station. The pressurized cartridge required the
development of a new special viscoelastic ink (like thick rubber cement).
Because the ink is thick and rubber-like, it does not flow except when
the shearing action of the rolling ball liquefies its solid gel thixotropic
ink, allowing it to write smoothly and dependably on most surfaces,
even under water. Paul Fisher invested over $2 million and years of
research in developing his patented Space Pens. Ordinary ball pens rely on gravity to
feed the ink and have an opening in the top of the ink cartridge to
allow air to replace the ink as it is used. There is no hole in the
hermetically sealed and pressurized Space Pens. Evaporation, wasted
ink, and back leakage are eliminated. Shelf-life is increased from a
normal 2 years to an estimated 100 years. Your Fisher Space Pen is unconditionally
guaranteed to give you good, satisfactory service both here on Earth
and in Space.
The ink in the Space Pen's replaceable refill is positively fed to its
tungsten carbide ball by air pressure at about 40 pounds per square
inch. The Fisher Space Pen will write at any angle, even upside down.
We believe it to be the smoothest writing, most dependable pen in the
world.
