I have been working for the government for many years now. My wife sent me this email that gave me a laugh today so I thought i would share.
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity.
To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside-down, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
The Russians used a pencil.
Your taxes are due again – enjoy paying them.
~ How true it is ~
I love urban legends…
I love a good laugh as much as the next guy, but the “urban legend debunker” inside of me must… uhh… debunk!
This legend started out as $12 million, not $12 Bn. I wonder when that changed?
Anyway, Paul Fisher developed the design which led to the eventual “space pen” in the 1940s. He landed the pen contract from NASA, and by 1967 had spent a total of around $2 million in pen development over the preceding fifteen years.
The Fisher pen company has made that money back, and far more besides, many times over. You can buy one of these pens yourself for $50.00, and you can write to your heart’s content, firm in the knowledge that your tax dollars didn’t pay for the development of your nifty Space Pen!
The Russians also used a pressurized pen, rather than a pencil, for the same reasons as the Americans: concerns about pencil shavings, and graphite tips which might break off and short out sensitive electronics.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Well debunked, sir. I
Well debunked, sir. I thought the numbers seemed a bit skewed.
There’s a great scene in The West Wing, when one of the characters pokes fun at a Navy Lieutenant for having an official aircraft carrier ash tray on his desk that “must have cost 50,000 to make.”
The Lieutenant responds by grabbing a paperweight and smashing the ashtray. “You broke it,” the assistant, says shocked. He replies.
“Yes, and it broke into three large pieces, none of which are sharp, instead of hundreds of glass shards that could fly through a cabin and shred flesh should the ship come under fire. That’s why it cost 50,000.”
Much as I’m wary of our growing military-industrial complex, sometimes there are good reasons for paying a little extra.
More fiction
I’ve never watched the West Wing, but I see now that I certainly won’t start in order to learn about military equipment or science. Tempered glass (one kind of safety glass) is considered preferable to untreated glass precisely because it breaks into lots of pieces, none of which are sharp. Personally, I’d rather get hit by 100 little pieces of glass than three large ones, assuming the same velocity at impact (which there wouldn’t be, because little pieces would have higher drag/mass coefficient, slowing them down). And the Navy could (and honestly, probably does) buy metal or polycarbonate ashtrays that don’t shatter at all. But that’s not nearly as witty or dramatic a reply as given by the show’s writers.
I still agree with your last sentence though.
Aaron Sorkin
There’s only one writer — his name is Aaron Sorkin. His writing has always been, in my opinion, stupendous. I saw “A Few Good Men” on Broadway with the original cast and it was phenomenal, much better than the movie.
Probably because he’s a coke fiend. Drugs are good for the creative process.
Huzzah
I, for one, sadly lamented the cancellation of “Sports Night”.
— Ben
drugs
Drugs might seem good intially for the creative process, but unfortunately they usually cause the flame to burn too bright, too quick.
Which is why Aaron Sorkin left West Wing a nervous wreck after only 4 seasons. The second half of the series was written by others.