Space Pens

History of the Fisher Space Pen

Paul Fisher had been manufacturing better writing instruments with a devotion to accuracy long before the United States space program began. But when astronauts started to explore the reaches of outer space, Fisher realized that no existing pen could perform in its boiling hot vacuum. His common sense approach and practical experiments resulted in the invention of the sealed-pressurized Fisher Space Pen.

Unlike other ball pens which rely on gravity to feed ink, the Space Pen's replaceable cartridge is pressurized. At nearly 50 pounds per square inch, ink is continuously fed to the tungsten carbide ball, allowing the user to write at any angle, even upside down, or in zero-gravity. After months of rigorous testing, NASA selected the Fisher Space Pen for use on all of the Apollo missions. They are still used on all manned space flights American and Russian.

Perhaps you have seen the famous Fisher Space Pen on TV. In 1996, Good Morning America named the Fisher Space Pen a best stocking stuffer. In 1998, Seinfeld built an episode around the Fisher Space Pen -- where Jerry Seinfeld is berated by his parents for accepting the pen as a gift, from a neighbor who offers it as a token of friendship.