If I ever go to space I’m bringing the Fisher Space Pen

I love pens. I love pencils. I love markers, gel pens, and highlighters. In general, I just love writing utensils. 

Throughout my life, I would take the pens that businesses used for marketing (with their address and phone numbers on them) home with me. Sorry not sorry?

I have a Ziploc bag full of pens tucked away in one of the drawers in my closet. In this bag, you can find a variety of pens ranging from hotels where I’ve stayed, to the college from which my husband and I graduated, to random car dealerships, and even our local dentist’s office. 

You can imagine my excitement in trying out the Fisher Space Pen. 

In the 1960s, Paul C. Fisher (ballpoint pen connoisseur) began researching how to make a pen that would write in outer space where there’s no gravity. His final design included a special thixotropic, visco-elastic ink encapsulated within a sealed cartridge that is pressurized. Since then, NASA approved them for official use by astronauts heading into the wide-open galaxy. 

The Fisher Space Pen can be used during underwater adventures and space exploration, by handstand enthusiasts who write upside down, and by those living in climates with temperatures ranging from -30 to +250 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, by writers like me.

Replaceable ink cartridges are available, so your wild adventures won’t be interrupted by your pen running out of ink. 

The pen I received is part of their special Apollo 13 50th Anniversary Collection – the AG7-13-50 Astronaut Space Pen model. It’s a beautiful pen with a shiny silver finish. The body of the pen slopes down towards both ends and engraved on the side are the names of the Apollo 13 astronauts — Lovell, Swigert, and Haise — as well as the date of the mission April 11-17, 1970.

Writing with this pen is a smooooth experience (ha, pun). In all seriousness though, the ink writes smoothly and I like feeling the weight of the pen in my hand as I write on paper. 

However, there are two minor negatives that I’ve encountered. One, my fingers tend to slip occasionally due to the sloped angle of the body design, which may be a bigger issue for those with larger hands, and two, the silver coating requires frequent polishing to keep fingerprints at bay. 

I’m very picky with the pens that I use on a daily basis, so I’m a hard judge to please. Overall, I like this pen and the way it functions. 

No matter where my life is headed, even if it’s to the moon, this pen can take me there. And it will still write smoothly.