There is some mis-information regarding the famous Fisher "Space Pens" in auctions on eBay.  This guide is intended to clear up some of the improper claims made by sellers of these fine pens.

To begin with, there was a time, billions and billions of years ago, when a pen wasn't considered to be a disposable item.  When the ink ran out, you bought a refill cartridge, and you could then keep the same pen for years and years, as you ran out of ink, you shoved in another refill.  Not unlike older razors where the blades were replaceable but the handle was used for decades.  As each pen manufacturer used their own design of refill, the refill ink cartridges were not interchangeable from brand to brand.

Fisher developed a "universal refill" in 1953, which could be installed in the pens made by several different manufacturers.  Stores could reduce inventory by stocking a single kind of refill for many different brands of pen.

Fisher improved on the "universal refill" by using a special kind of ink that was close to solid/gel rather than liquid.  This extremely "thick" ink (called "thixotropic") was loaded into the refill and pressurized by nitrogen to nearly 35 psi, and then sealed.  The ink was liquefied by the shearing action of the roller ball as it rolled along the paper.  Because the ink was pressurized, it could write upside down, under water, pretty much anywhere including extremes of temperature.  The whole deal was given a patent in 1965--#3,285,228.

Fisher did all the research and development of the pressurized ink cartridge on it's own, including paying all the development costs which were in excess of a million dollars.  A million bucks was a lot of money in the '60's!  Fisher was smart enough to send samples to NASA for evaluation by the Space program.  The pencils previously used by the astronauts could have the "lead" break off and float around the space capsule, perhaps getting into the electrical circuitry or in some way causing damage to the capsule or the people on board as it floated around in zero gravity.  According to NASA, mechanical pencils were used previously, and a scandal occurred when the public found out NASA was paying $4382.50 for 34 mechanical pencils from Tycam Engineering Manufacturing, Inc.  That was $128.89 per pencil!  NASA eventually decided to use the Fisher pens, and Fisher "Anti-Gravity" AG-7 pens were included on Apollo 7 and every Apollo mission thereafter. Fisher did sell 400 pens to NASA at the cost of $4 or $6 each (depending on which source you trust) in the early years.  Fisher pens are still used by NASA, and have even been on some Russian space flights--the Soviet Union purchased 100 pens and 1000 ink cartridges.  The term "Anti-Gravity" is not really accurate, but it got the point across.  A later series of pens is the "Zero Gravity" series, having a rubberized barrel, and costing much less than the AG-7's.

All Fisher pens are sold as "Space Pens" because they all use the thixotropic ink in a pressurized container (most even use the same style of refill, varying only in ink color and whether it's a fine point or medium point)--but to my knowledge, only the AG-7 model was used by the Apollo astronauts.  There are "commemorative" versions of the AG-7 pen, honoring the Apollo 11 moon landing, too.  An AG-7 pen was used by the Apollo 11 astronauts to fix an arming switch that was crucial to bringing the Astronauts back to Earth.  The CH-4 (slimmer than the AG-7, at .320" vs. .389") was used aboard the Space Shuttle and the Russian MIR.  Some "Bullet" pens--and even some relatively inexpensive Fisher pens have a Space Shuttle emblem on them.

The Fisher Bullet pen was exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art for years.  It also made an appearance on an episode of "Seinfeld".

Fisher's refill cartridges are available in several colors and point widths, including invisible "Ultra Violet Ink" which is only visible under a black light.

Fisher pens are made in the USA, in Boulder City, NV.  A refreshing change from all the crap coming in from Communist China.

Fisher (the company) is named for Paul C. Fisher.  Mr. Fisher ran against John Kennedy and Richard Nixon in the 1960 New Hampshire presidential primary election.  Paul Fisher is known as a pacifist and humanitarian, who had a "plan" to (1) reduce poverty and create happiness; and (2) exempt all who are not rich from ALL taxes. (See Mr. Fisher's book "The Plan: To Restore the Constitution and Help Us All Get Out Of Debt"  ISBN 0961984309  for details)  Mr. Fisher died 20 October 2006.

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