NASA Space Pen vs Soviet Pencil: Fact Check

The $1 Million Space Pen & The Pencil That Never Was

Posted 17 days ago·Updated 14 days ago

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida stands a building so enormous that it creates its own weather patterns. The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is where rockets like the Saturn V and Space Shuttle were pieced together before launch—and it's big enough to develop indoor rainclouds.

A Cathedral for Rockets

The VAB covers 8 acres and contains 129.4 million cubic feet of space. When it was completed in 1966, it was the largest building in the world by volume. The structure is so tall (526 feet) that the Statue of Liberty could stand inside with room to spare. Each of the four doors is 456 feet high—the largest doors in the world.

The building was designed to house multiple Saturn V rockets simultaneously, each standing 363 feet tall. Engineers needed vertical space not just for the rockets, but for the massive cranes that would stack each stage on top of the other like the world's most expensive Lego set.

When Buildings Make Weather

Florida's humid subtropical climate posed an unexpected challenge. In the early days, before the air conditioning system was fully operational, moisture from the humid outside air would rise inside the building. As it hit the cooler air near the 525-foot ceiling, it would condense—forming actual clouds inside the structure.

On particularly humid days, these clouds could produce light rain showers inside the building. Imagine working on a multi-billion dollar spacecraft and having to dodge raindrops falling from your own ceiling. NASA eventually installed a massive air conditioning system capable of replacing the entire volume of air in the building in about an hour.

Still Standing, Still Massive

Today, the VAB has been modified to support NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis program. The building has weathered hurricanes, witnessed the assembly of every moon-bound Apollo mission, and processed 135 Space Shuttle missions. Its sheer scale remains almost incomprehensible—workers inside describe feeling like ants in a giant's workshop.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did NASA actually pay for the space pen?

NASA didn't fund the pen's development. The Fisher Pen Company developed it privately. In 1965, NASA purchased 400 pens for about $6 each (around $60 today), and the Soviets bought 100 pens in 1969 for their missions.

Why couldn't astronauts just use pencils?

Pencils were a serious hazard. In zero gravity, conductive graphite dust and flammable wood shavings float freely in the cabin's pure-oxygen atmosphere, creating a major fire and electrical short-circuit risk.

Who invented the space pen?

Paul C. Fisher, founder of the Fisher Pen Company, invented the AG-7 'Anti-Gravity' pen. He invested over $1 million of his own money in its development before NASA or the Soviets expressed interest.

Do astronauts still use the Fisher Space Pen today?

Yes. The Fisher Space Pen is still used on the International Space Station and has been on every NASA manned mission since Apollo 7. It's a standard piece of equipment due to its reliability.

Verified Fact

The VAB at Kennedy Space Center is one of the largest buildings by volume in the world (129.4 million cubic feet). Before the air conditioning system was upgraded, humid Florida air could form rain clouds near the ceiling.

NASA