英語聽力文摘454 “太空筆”是奢侈品嗎？

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Pens in Space

Legend has it that NASA spent a million dollars developing a pressurized ballpoint pen that astronauts could use in space, while the Russians merely opted to use a pencil. Embarrassing, right? Luckily, though, this is nothing more than a myth.

Hold on. How come astronauts can’t use regular ballpoint pens?

Because ordinary pens rely on gravity, while you write, gravity forces the ink down onto the ball, which rolls inside its socket and spreads the ink on your writing surface. In space, of course, there isn’t enough gravity to force the ink out, so the pen’s reservoir needs to be pressurized.

If that’s the case, why not use pencil?

Paul Fisher, the guy who produced the space pen, noted that when astronauts used lead pencils, and the pencils broke, the lead floating around became a safety hazard. Plus, both pencil lead and wood burn rapidly in pure oxygen environments.

After the Apollo 1 disaster, NASA required writing instruments that wouldn’t burn in these conditions. This space pen is made of metal, and the ink has a much higher ignition point than regular ink.

So you have convinced me space pens have got the right staff, but they still much of cost bundle to develop.

Maybe so, Paul Fisher financed their development entirely on his own.

In fact, after sinking a million dollars into all that research, the first order was for 400 pens that he sold for $2.95 each. On the bright side, today all astronauts use these pens, and plenty of ordinary people do too.

太空筆的發(fā)明是一個傳奇：美國宇航局耗資百萬美元，研發(fā)宇航員可以在太空使用的“封閉式氣壓”圓珠筆;而面臨著同樣難題的蘇聯(lián)，則選擇了一支鉛筆。情何以堪?好在這只是謠言。

等等，為什么宇航員不用普通圓珠筆呢?

因為普通圓珠筆在有重力的情況下方可工作。主要是重力作用油墨，使圓珠在球座內(nèi)滾動，帶出筆芯內(nèi)的油墨或墨水，以達到書寫的目的。而在太空上，沒有足夠的重力帶出油墨，需要氣體壓力把油墨推向筆尖。

如果是這樣，為什么不用鉛筆呢?

Paul Fisher指出宇航員使用鉛筆十分不安全，使用中產(chǎn)生的鉛筆屑會四處漂浮。此外，鉛筆的筆芯和木屑在純氧環(huán)境中還易快速燃燒。Paul Fisher后來生產(chǎn)了太空筆。

在阿波羅一號的慘劇發(fā)生后，美國航天局規(guī)定書寫工具不得在無氧環(huán)境中燃燒。所以太空筆由金屬制造，油墨的燃燒點也高于普通油墨。

你成功說服我，太空筆選材正確，但是，太空筆的花銷確實不菲。

也許正因為如此，Paul Fisher自己承擔了太空筆研制的費用。

事實上，在百萬美元投入這項研究后，首批訂單是400支太空筆，每支售價2.95美元。值得慶幸的是，如今所有宇航員在用太空筆，不少普通人也在使用。