NASA

During the heat of the space race in the 1960's, the U.S. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ballpoint pen to
write in the zero gravity confines of its space capsules. After
considerable research and development, the Astronaut Pen was developed at
a cost of about $1 million U.S. The pen worked and also enjoyed some
modest success as a novelty item back here on Earth. The Soviet Union,
faced with the same problem, used a pencil