Mechanical Pencil Flown on STS-112
Mechanical Pencil Flown on STS-112
This mechanical pencil was flown and used by the crew of STS-112 - Jeff Ashby, Pam Melroy, Sandra Magnus, David Wolf, Piers Sellers and Fydor Magnus. STS-112 was the 9th assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The pencil is stainless steel and has a gold coloured clip. The end of the pencil has the US flag on it.Contrary to the urban legend that NASA spent millions of dollars developing a "space pen" while the Russians simply used a pencil, the Americans have used mechanical pencils since the Mercury program. The pencils must have a thick lead, to minimise the chance of it snapping and floating around the spacecraft. Despite this potential hazard, it can be useful for astronauts to have the option to erase their writing, especially if procedures change. Most regular pens aren't suitable for use in space, as gravity is needed to assist the flow of ink. However, certain pens, such as marker pens, work fine and today astroanuts continue to use a mixture of pens and pencils.
More information
Object number
2003-9
Location
Into Space Gallery
Has this object been into space?
Yes
Material
Velcro
Stainless Steel
Lead
Associated Person
Piers Sellers
Object Production Date
Circa 2002
Object Production Organisation
Garland
Object Production Place
United States
On Display Status
On display
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