COMMON SENSE
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion developing a pen that writes in zero gravity. The pen also wrote upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300 C.
The Russians simply used a pencil.
Quote: "Common sense is just not so common!"