And let's not forget that while NASA spent millions of dollars developing a pen that would write in space the Soviets just took a pencil.
I hate this "legend"
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
Thanks, saved me the time of posting that.
I would like to de-bunk something in the de-bunking of the legend on Snopes.
It says "In addition, both the lead and the wood of the pencil could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere."
The atmosphere in the capsules is not pure oxygen. People can't live in pure oxygen. And, not only would the pencils burn but hair, flesh, the paper they are trying to write on, wires, fabric, etc...
This is science as Tubercle understands it.
Here's a bit more science for ya:
"A series of events and circumstances lead to the fire. Perhaps the most famous is the pure oxygen atmosphere used in the capsule during the test. Why did NASA do that? The capsule was designed to use a pure O2 atmosphere while in space. Our air on Earth is a mix of nitrogen and oxygen, but this is difficult to use in space. The capsule needed to be as lightweight as possible (to save on fuel), so using a lower cabin pressure (5 pounds/square inch instead of 15 as on the surface of the Earth) means less weight, and less need for structural strength in the capsule. However, at lower pressure nitrogen can form bubbles in the blood, causing the condition known as "the bends", which can be crippling or fatal. So, at lower cabin pressure, there cannot be nitrogen in the air. Another gas could be substituted (like helium, which does not bubble in the blood) but that only works at higher pressure. The air has to have a certain amount of oxygen in it for the human body to survive, and at lower pressure that means essentially 100% of the air must be O2."
LINK
