One of my friends sent me an e-mail, which contained some quotations. He did not provide any sources so unfortunately I cannot provide a link. However, the one below was so good I feel the need to pass it on anyways. If I had Mark Shields’ e-mail address I would certainly forward it to him.

”When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 million developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300C.

The Russians used a pencil.

Enjoy paying your taxes."