Guest guest Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Ooohh, good catch Pat! I forwarded that to my husband and he didn't even catch it. Thumbs up to you. Warmly, Allison --- Pat Meadows <pat wrote: > On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 14:35:41 -0000, you wrote: > > > > " When NASA began the launch of astronauts into > space, they found > >out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity as > the ink wouldn't > >flow down to the writing surface. In order to solve > this problem, > >they hired Andersen Consulting (Accenture today). > It took them one > >decade and 12 million dollars. They developed a pen > that worked at > >zero gravity, upside down, under water, on > practically any surface > >including crystal and in a temperature range from > below freezing to > >over 300 degrees C. The Russians used a pencil... > and saved 12 > >million dollars " > > It's a cute story, but of course it's not true. > > See: http://www.snopes.com - just put NASA in the > search > box (this site uses frames, so I can't give the > exact URL). > Snopes.com is an urban legend debunking site. > > The thing about exploration and research: you > cannot > specify ahead of time what you'll find. You either > support > it for the benefits which may (or may not) accrue, > or you > don't. > > The space program, in particular, has been rich in > knowledge > that has led to benefits on earth. Not computers, > that's > not true. Computers were developed LONG before > space travel > ever took place - anyone who thinks that the space > program > developed computers doesn't know the history of > computing. > > But various other things have been derived from it, > mainly I > believe in the realm of material science - better > materials, > some used for medical purposes, for example. > > For me, the clincher is the very valid possibility > that a > large asteroid could be on an impact course with > earth, and > could be deflected by a spacecraft. The salvation > of all > life on earth seems a worth goal to me. > > Pat > -- Pat Meadows > CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY > United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/ > International: http://www.thehungersite.com/ > Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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