When NASA started sending astronauts into space they quickly discovered that ball-point would not work in zero gravity.
> >>> To combat this problem, Congress approved a program and NASA scientists spent a decade and over $165 million developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, on almost any surface and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300 C.
> >>>
> >>> The Russians used a pencil…
> >>>
> >>> Your taxes are due again!

Sad but true.Now here is a true story that I know. If you remember back to Desert Storm in 91 we had a problem with the sand in the carberators in our tanks.I asked the guy I worked with (an inventing genius) how he would fix that problem.He says,easy + then drew out a diagram on a napkin.He put a pipe that ran from the exhaust manifold to the carb intake w/ a back draft damper.Basically once you fired up the motor the exhaust air would provide an air curtain to prevent sand entering the carb. Totally passive + easy. I told him to give it to the Pentagon but he said Hell no,they'll probably want me to go to work for them on a full time basis. Well he's dead now so it does'nt matter.

I have one of those pens and with the taxes I've paid over the years, I think I paid for that study.
You're welcome.
This makes me ill just thinking about it.
Zeke

It's but half a truth!
Yes at the very beginning Russia used pencils but soon learned that graphite dust in a zero gravity enviorment is a bad thing.
Oh and the Americans also started with pencils, thats why Fisher made the spacepen. Interestingly they found out later that a normal BIC works quite fine in Zero gravity, it's in earths gravity they cant write upside down.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp