4 ms·

It's not quite wrong either. The truth is more complex. See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-spent-millions-on-a-pen-able-t/ https://www.scientif

It's not quite wrong either. The truth is more complex. See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-spent-millions-on-a-pen-able-t/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-spent-millio... and https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-nasa-pens-idUSL1N2MQ1RR https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-nasa-pens-idUSL1N2... I think any of us would balk at a government agency spending 1300 bucks on a single pencil (first link). And the graphite conductivity problem is a non sequitur, given that the Russians used wax (or grease) pencils, not graphite. This is really the point of the anecdote: wasteful government spending. Though apparently the Russians also find the pens useful and bought some as well.

kube-system 3y ago
> I think any of us would balk at a government agency spending 1300 bucks on a single pencil (first link). Only people who don't understand how engineering and manufacturing projects work. $1300 is completely reasonable for a very low volume manufactured product, which was specified to meet specific criteria. The reason it sounds unreasonable is because it is being called a "pencil/pen", instead of what it actually was, which was speciality equipment designed to be compatible with the conditions inside of the spacecraft. At face value in meme format, the implied "free" solution would be buying a pen or pencil off the shelf, when in reality, that alone wouldn't have solved the problem. It is possible that someone could have evaluated off-the-shelf options to see if one would have met the criteria, but that would still have significant labor cost.
- trelane 3y ago
  > which was speciality equipment designed to be compatible with the conditions inside of the spacecraft. Right, that's the point. It's also how you get the other very expensive things that the Pentagon gets dinged for.
Retric 3y ago
What everyone forgets is how valuable each second of astronaut time actually is. 1300$ for a slightly better pen is probably a great deal for the agency. The shuttle program (excluding ISS) worked out to roughly 1 million dollars each hour an astronaut spent in space including when they were sleeping. Space stations are significantly better but anything that marginally improves astronaut effectiveness is worth quite a bit.
eternityforest 3y ago
But those space pens are available to civilians now. In plastic disposable versions for a few bucks(uniball power tank). They are the only pens I know that stand up to modern use where you might only touch them once a week or less. Now they exist, and probably will be available indefinitely, and cheaply, and the problem of pens that just work anywhere is basically solved. Isn't part of the point of NASA to develop tech that benefits everyone? Granted it's not a major life changing thing, but it's not just tossing money in the toilet either.

kube-system 3y ago

> I think any of us would balk at a government agency spending 1300 bucks on a single pencil (first link). Only people who don't understand how engineering and manufacturing projects work. $1300 is completely reasonable for a very low volume manufactured product, which was specified to meet specific criteria. The reason it sounds unreasonable is because it is being called a "pencil/pen", instead of what it actually was, which was speciality equipment designed to be compatible with the conditions inside of the spacecraft. At face value in meme format, the implied "free" solution would be buying a pen or pencil off the shelf, when in reality, that alone wouldn't have solved the problem. It is possible that someone could have evaluated off-the-shelf options to see if one would have met the criteria, but that would still have significant labor cost.

trelane 3y ago
> which was speciality equipment designed to be compatible with the conditions inside of the spacecraft. Right, that's the point. It's also how you get the other very expensive things that the Pentagon gets dinged for.

Retric 3y ago

What everyone forgets is how valuable each second of astronaut time actually is. 1300$ for a slightly better pen is probably a great deal for the agency. The shuttle program (excluding ISS) worked out to roughly 1 million dollars each hour an astronaut spent in space including when they were sleeping. Space stations are significantly better but anything that marginally improves astronaut effectiveness is worth quite a bit.

eternityforest 3y ago

But those space pens are available to civilians now. In plastic disposable versions for a few bucks(uniball power tank). They are the only pens I know that stand up to modern use where you might only touch them once a week or less. Now they exist, and probably will be available indefinitely, and cheaply, and the problem of pens that just work anywhere is basically solved. Isn't part of the point of NASA to develop tech that benefits everyone? Granted it's not a major life changing thing, but it's not just tossing money in the toilet either.