Why can't astronauts use pencils in space?
Fragments from pencils float in space, pencil cores can break and pose a danger to astronauts and equipment in zero gravity.
The truth about the story of using a pencil in space
NASA astronaut Pamela Melroy checks the list of procedures on the space shuttle Atlantis with a ballpoint pen in 2002. Photo: NASA
In the 1960s, when people first left the surface of the Earth to enter the microgravity environment of space, people quickly discovered that ballpoint pens designed for the subsurface gravity environment became less effective. fruit.
According to reports, NASA spent millions of dollars to develop a ballpoint pen that can be used in microgravity. However, Soviet cosmonauts are said to have solved the problem using only pencils. This story has become an interesting anecdote that has been passed down for decades. However, much of the story is not true, Science Alert reported on June 9.
Initially, Soviet and American cosmonauts both used pencils in space. NASA spent a fortune to research ballpoint pens for use in space, but soon scrapped the project when it saw the costs going up.
The private company Fisher Pen has invested its own money to develop a new type of pen called the Fisher Space. In the late 1960s, after the Fisher Space pen was introduced to the market, Soviet and American cosmonauts used this pen when they needed to write in microgravity.
So why don't astronauts use pencils? The reason is that they do not want the debris from the pencil floating in space. The pencil lead can break and be dangerous. Besides, they also don't want the spacecraft to have flammable pieces of wood floating around or microscopic conductive graphite particles that fall from the pencil when writing.
Any small particle that has the potential to get caught in delicate machinery is a danger in space. Fire is also a big problem in spacecraft, and NASA doesn't take it lightly, especially after the fire that killed all three members of the Apollo 1 mission in 1967.
Ballpoint pens at that time were also a danger. The first commercially successful ballpoint pens were released in 1945 and leaked frequently, according to Paul C. Fisher, founder of the Fisher Pen company. Floating drops of ink are also not something astronauts want to see on a spacecraft.
Astronaut R. Walter Cunningham on the Apollo 7 mission using the Fisher Pen in 1968. Photo: NASA
Apollo astronauts used to use markers made by the Duro Pen company. In fact, the marker even saved the Apollo 11 mission when an important switch broke. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin inserted the tip of the pen into the hole it left, allowing the spacecraft module to take off from the Moon. However, they also used ballpoint pens after Paul C. Fisher, along with Friedrich Schächter and Erwin Rath, perfected the space pen, filing its first patent in 1965.
The scientists added resin to the ink to prevent leakage. In addition, the new pen uses pressurized ink cartridges and works in many conditions that conventional ballpoint pens would struggle with: large temperature fluctuations, writing upside down or writing on greasy surfaces.
Fisher proposes to sell NASA a new pen. After rigorous testing, NASA decided to buy them for the Apollo missions. Finally, the Fisher Space pen debuted aboard Apollo 7 in 1968.
The Fisher Space Pen is still used today, but now astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have more options. They were offered a variety of Sharpie pens and pencils, but in a mechanical pencil instead of the wooden case.
"Needle pencils are commonly used by crew to write down the numerical values ??needed to carry out onboard procedures (fire time, engine configuration...). Ability to erase during procedures It's a wonderful thing to happen, especially when situations change, which often happens," explained NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson.
Leads can still break, but technological advances have made the ISS's filtration system capable of removing dangerous debris quite effectively.
Thu Thao (According to Science Alert )
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