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It was dependable
in freezing cold and desert heat. It could also write
under water and upside down. The trick was to have
the ink flow when you wanted it to, and not to flow
the rest of the time, a problem Fisher solved. Fisher's
development couldn't have come at a more opportune
time. The space race was on, and the astronauts involved
in the Mercury and Gemini missions had been using
pencils to take notes in space since standard ball
point pens did not work in zero gravity. The Fisher
cartridge did work in the weightlessness of outer
space and the astronauts, beginning with the October,
1968 Apollo 7 mission began using the Fisher AG-7
Space Pen and cartridge developed in 1966.
Notable
events in the history of Space Pens include:
1969
- Fisher Space Pens used on Apollo 7 after two years
of testing by NASA.
1983 -
Fisher Space Pen is used by Ronald Regan to sign the
proclamation inaugurating the Air and Space Bicentennial
Year to celebrate Man's first flight in a hot air
balloon near Paris, France.
1985
- Fisher
Space Pen Company produces the Stowaway pen line manufactured
using genuine gold from the treasure recovered from
the 1622 Spanish Galleon - Nuestra Senorna de Atocha.
1996
- Good Morning America names the Fisher Space Pen
as a best stocking stuffer.
1996
- Fisher
licenced to produce 150th Anniversary Pens for the Smithsonian
Institute.
1997
- Space Pens are used during the Everest North Face
Ski Expedition.
1998
- The Fisher Space Pen is used on the Russian Space
Station Mir to write the letters QVV (QVC Shopping
Network) - the first product sold in space.
Seinfeld
builds an episode around the Fisher Space Pen where
Seinfeld is berated by his parents for accepting the
pen as a gift from a neighbour who offers it as a
token of friendship.
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