Simple is better than complex (how the Russians outsmarted the Americans)

TJL #93

Feb 28, 2021

Today I want to share a story I found in How to Take Smart Notes. The story is about how NASA spent millions developing a pen that works in space — a space pen. The story is not really true but it’s a funny urban legend so I thought it was worth sharing.

There is this story where NASA tried to figure out how to make a ballpoint pen that works in space. If you have ever tried to use a ballpoint pen over your head, you have probably realised it is gravity that keeps the ink flowing. After a series of prototypes, several test runs and tons of money invested, NASA developed a fully functional gravity-independent pen, which pushes the ink onto the paper by means of compressed nitrogen. According to this story, the Russians faced the same problem. So they used pencils (De Bono, 1998, 141).

Here’s a schematic of the NASA space pen.

fisher space pen That Story About the Million Dollar US Space Pen and Russian Pencil is BS

And here’s a picture of a Russian space pen.

russian space pen That Story About the Million Dollar US Space Pen and Russian Pencil is BS

Exactly. A pencil. The moral of the story is that we should focus on the essentials and not overcomplicate things. Simple is better than complex.

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