In an concern gathering tucked distant successful Boulder City, workers assemble 1 of the longest-serving pieces of instrumentality successful spaceflight history.
Fisher Space Pen, founded successful 1967, has flown connected each crewed NASA ngo since Apollo 7 successful 1968 and remains the lone pen certified for usage successful space.
“Since 1968, erstwhile we talented NASA and the astronauts with the pen, it’s harmless to accidental we’re 1 of the oldest pieces of abstraction instrumentality inactive successful usage today,” said Eric Bond, the company’s caput of income and marketing.
More than fractional a period aft its founding, the family-owned institution remains distinctly American. Its pens are manufactured successful Boulder City, displayed successful New York’s Museum of Modern Art arsenic examples of concern plan and person appeared successful popular culture, including the “Seinfeld” occurrence “The Pen.”
Fisher Space Pen is besides marking America’s upcoming 250th day with a peculiar America 250 commemorative pen.
Inside the invention
The origins of the Space Pen hint backmost to a elemental but hard problem: penning successful space.
After the Apollo 1 occurrence successful 1967, NASA placed renewed accent connected information and connection successful spaceflight. At the time, astronauts relied connected pencils, but they posed risks successful a spacecraft environment.
Graphite could flake off, interval into eyes oregon instrumentality and make a occurrence hazard. NASA began searching for an alternative.
“They were calling each these large pen brands. Nobody had what they were looking for,” said Matt Fisher, vice president of Fisher Space Pen. “Until they came crossed Dallas Pen Company, who said, ‘You should telephone Paul Fisher. He knows much astir pens than anybody.’”
Paul Fisher’s archetypal connection to NASA, erstwhile interaction was yet made, was blunt.
“Where the hellhole person you been? I’ve been trying to get a clasp of you,” helium reportedly said.
Founder Paul Fisher, who had started Fisher Pen Company successful 1948, began privately processing what would go the Space Pen, investing millions of his ain dollars.
“My gramps understood the request for a nonhazardous penning instrumentality successful space,” Matt Fisher said. “He wanted to make a pen that could withstand the harshest environments, some connected Earth and beyond.”
Rather than relying connected gravity, the Fisher Space Pen uses a sealed, pressurized ink cartridge. Compressed nitrogen forces ink toward the ballpoint, allowing it to constitute successful zero gravity, underwater, implicit grease and successful temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
After 18 months of testing, NASA approved the pen for the Apollo 7 ngo successful 1968. Since then, the Original Astronaut Space Pen has flown connected each crewed mission.
Myths and misconceptions
For decades, Fisher Space Pen has worked to close 2 persistent myths: that NASA spent millions processing a pen for abstraction and that Soviet cosmonauts utilized pencils.
Neither is true.
The pen was developed privately by Paul Fisher and aboriginal adopted by NASA aft testing. And portion pencils were utilized successful aboriginal abstraction programs, they were phased retired owed to information concerns. Soviet crews aboriginal adopted pressurized pen technology, arsenic well.
Inside the factory
Most of Fisher Space Pen’s accumulation cannot beryllium automated.
Many of the machines are much than 50 years old, and immoderate day to the post-World War II era. They were primitively built for different pen manufacturers and aboriginal modified for Fisher’s needs.
The instrumentality cannot beryllium easy replaced oregon reproduced, and cognition of however to run it is passed from 1 mechanic to the next.
That organization cognition is critical, arsenic overmuch of the accumulation process remains hard to automate.
When machines cannot bash the work, employees measurement in.
A Space Pen begins arsenic c alloy ligament and bare metallic tubes, which are formed into precision ballpoint tips, filled with in-house ink, pressurized and sealed into refills. Each refill is past tested for hours earlier being assembled into finished pens.
Completed pens are checked for equilibrium and feel, past packaged connected high-speed lines acceptable for shipment to astronauts, mechanics and mundane users.
The institution tin bundle up to 10,000 pens per time utilizing a rotary blister paper machine.
Fisher Space Pen employs 55 people, whom Matt Fisher calls the company’s “lifeblood.”
“Boulder City is location for us. It’s been my location my full life,” helium said. “But it’s besides location to employees who person been present for decades, immoderate for 45 oregon 50 years.”
Because truthful overmuch of the process is learned alternatively than written down, grooming caller workers is indispensable to the company’s future.
Keeping it successful Boulder City
The institution was primitively based successful Chicago and aboriginal Van Nuys, California, earlier relocating manufacturing to Boulder City successful 1976.
Matt Fisher said rising costs and disposable onshore played a relation successful the move.
“Taxes successful California were daunting,” helium said. “When the institution archetypal moved here, the existent property was cheaper, the abstraction manufacture was developing, and the portion was up and coming.”
Paul Fisher recovered onshore successful Boulder City done a household transportation and moved accumulation to Nevada, bringing manufacturing operations with him.
They person remained determination ever since.
“Fisher Space Pen represents the precise champion of Boulder City: innovation, prime and assemblage pride,” said Jill Rowland-Lagan, CEO of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce.
Now, Boulder City remains arsenic a strategical determination for the company, with “great entree to transportation, logistics, tourism, and a reliable workforce,” said Matt Fisher.
“It allows america to support a close-knit assemblage consciousness that perfectly aligns with our culture,” helium said. “We instrumentality a batch of pridefulness successful keeping manufacturing and high-quality craftsmanship close present successful Southern Nevada.”
A household business
For Matt Fisher, the institution has been portion of his beingness since childhood.
“I’ve been moving present since I was 8 years old, each summer,” helium said. “When I came backmost aft college, my dada said I was starting close wherever I started erstwhile I was 8 years old.”
His father, Cary Fisher, is president of the company.
He said preserving the company’s family-owned operation is intentional.
“I deliberation it’s important to support it successful the family,” helium said. “To guarantee our values don’t get blurred.”
Multiple generations of some the Fisher household and longtime employees proceed to enactment astatine the company. The institution intends to support it that way, with hopes to turn with the fourth, fifth, and truthful on, generations.
Additionally, keeping it successful the household continues the bequest and ethos his gramps and begetter person fostered: 1 of semipermanent partnerships, respect and dignity, which has led to aggregate generations of the different families moving astatine the mill and company, Matt Fisher said.
“Keeping the concern family-owned allows america to support this civilization and absorption connected holding onto our radical and looking retired for our community,” helium said.
Looking ahead
Today, Fisher Space Pen offers much than 85 designs and sells done its website, Amazon and autarkic retailers.
“As the satellite develops, arsenic we get further into space, arsenic we get much intertwined with computers and AI, it’s truly bully to conscionable instrumentality a pen and beryllium down and constitute retired your thoughts,” Bond said.
To stay relevant, Fisher Space Pen has partnered with the aboriginal of abstraction formation — commercialized abstraction carriers specified arsenic Blue Origin and Axiom Space, arsenic good arsenic keeping its long-standing concern with NASA. It is besides making the extracurricular of the pens much versatile with added features similar measuring mechanisms and reinforced clips.
For a institution whose products person accompanied astronauts for astir six decades, the extremity remains simple: support penning the aboriginal — wherever it leads. That includes adding caller features and expanding its selling to scope a broader audience, from blue-collar workers, archetypal responders and instrumentality enforcement officers who payment from the pens’ durability to mundane writers.
Even arsenic abstraction becomes progressively commercial, Fisher Space Pen continues to look ahead.
“Our ongoing taste relevance is intimately tied to our story: We stress being a family-owned concern that is made successful America portion maintaining beardown ties to some the bequest and aboriginal of space,” said Matt Fisher.
The institution hopes that 1 time its products volition spell beyond Earth entirely, becoming the archetypal interplanetary pen.
For now, it remains focused connected a much grounded mission: concern arsenic accustomed successful Boulder City.
Contact Emerson Drewes astatine edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes connected X.
English (US)·