Why won't a ball point pen work in outer-space?

It's an urban myth - ball point pens do work in zero-gravity. Spanish ESA astronaut Pedro Duque tested out the myth in 2003 by taking a ballpoint pen into space and writing in his diary with it: I am writing these notes in the Soyuz with a cheap ballpoint pen. Why is that important? read more

Space race legend claims NASA spent millions of dollars developing an 'astronaut pen' that would work in outer space, while the Soviets solved the same problem by simply using pencils. claim NASA spent millions of dollars developing an 'astronaut pen' that would work in outer space, while the Soviets fixed the problem much more cheaply and quickly by using pencils. read more

Fisher's Space Pen featured a series of technological improvements, making it suitable for use not just in space, but in other demanding environments. Its biggest innovation was its ink capsule—pressurized nitrogen forced the ink to flow, enabling the pen to write upside-down, in zero gravity, in a vacuum, or even underwater. read more