I've read this before, but it is still bloody funny
I read this recently at fishducky's website, I've read it before, many years ago, but I still find it hilarious. "During the initial space flights, Nasa discovered that biro (ball point) pens didn’t work under zero gravity conditions. To beat the problem, Nasa spent 6 years and $2 million in designing a pen for use in space. The pen would work under zero gravity conditions due to the pressurized ink inside, it would work under sub zero conditions, underwater, on glass and virtually any surface known to man. The Russians came up with a solution. They used a pencil." Ha Ha!! Time and money, too much of both, wasted by Nasa , on a new type of pen, and the Russians used something they already had. A pencil. Which needed no modification at all.