During the heat of the space race in the 1960s, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ball point 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 approximately

　　$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.

　　在二十世纪六十年代，美国和苏联正处于太空竞赛的白热化阶段，美国航空航天局决定研制一种圆珠笔，以便在太空舱重力为零的环境下仍然可以书写。经过大量的研发工作，花费了大约一百万美元的成本，太空笔终于研制出来了。那支笔果然可以在太空书写，在回到地球后，作为一样新奇的小玩意儿也确实吸引了一些目光。

　　而面临着同样难题的苏联，则选择了一支铅笔。