This is the United States Thunderbirds Space Pen, it’s made by the original Space Pen company Fisher, and it’s the standard issue pen of the USAF Thunderbirds display team.
The original story of how the Space Pen came to be is remarkable and to this day it remains the only object that can claim to have been used by NASA, featured in the New York Museum of Modern Art, and appeared as a central plot element in an episode of Seinfeld.
A pressurised ballpoint pen proved essential for use in space due to the fact that normal pens can’t be used in zero gravity environments and pencils can’t be used safely due to issues with graphite particles breaking off and getting breathed in by astronauts. Not to mention the fact that graphite conducts electricity and could wreck havoc with electrical systems if small particles get inside computer systems.
The Fisher Space Pen was developed by Paul C. Fisher, it first flew aboard the Apollo 7 mission in 1968, Fisher Space Pens have been on every NASA manned space flight since, and they’re currently being used aboard the International Space Station.
The Thunderbirds Space Pen is made from solid brass with a titanium nitride finish for longevity, these pens are built to aerospace levels of fit and finish and make excellent heirloom pieces. Inside the pen you’ll find the world famous pressurized ink cartridge, these are quickly replaceable when needed and they won’t break the bank at $6.75 each.
The Thunderbirds edition of the Space Pen has a knob for gripping the pen when wearing gloves and pulling it out of the small, lower leg pocket of a flight suit. This also makes it ideal as a pen for motorcyclists, if they need something they can use without taking their gloves off. The MSRP is $85 and each pen comes in a heavy duty gift/storage box with an information sleeve, each pen is guaranteed against all manufacturing defects for life by Fisher Space Pen, and each is made in the USA.
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
