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Comment by beebs93 | Hacker News Reader

I was really expecting something 10x more complex (e.g. A special WiFi-reflecting paint that prevents missiles from stealing the A-10s bandwidth or some such).

I love how simple yet effective it is. A very "just-use-a-pencil-in-outer-space"-type solution.

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Note that what you seem to be referring to is an urban legend [1]. Initially both NASA and the Russians used pencils, but they were quickly deemed potentially hazardous because they shed graphite flakes that in microgravity may end up in places where you don't want them - being electrically conductive they may even cause short-circuits. Simple ball-point pens work fine in microgravity because they rely on the capillary effect, not gravity, to work.

[1] http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Also, not mentioned in the Snopes article, is that the refill cartridge and ink used in the pen weren't even developed specifically with NASA in mind. Fisher wanted to create a ballpoint pen that would work in all manner of extreme environments, write on wet surfaces, and work upside down. Microgravity was just one of those extreme environments.

pencil in outer space is an urban legend: http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

A pencil in space is a very bad idea. It will create floating graphite shards that are conductive and could short out critical equipment (as well as not being great health-wise).

Actually, even though it is an urban legend, it is something I could see the USSR doing with their disregard for their astronauts' safety.

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