The Fisher pen line began with one man's dream of restoring economic balance, peace and happiness. Paul C. Fisher, an American inventor, father, researcher, and hero, ventured into creating the perfect refill, which all started with his creation of the "Universal Refill" in 1953. After much experimentation, he perfected a refill using thixotropic ink, which remains semisolid until the shearing action of the rolling ball inside liquefies it. The cartridge was pressurized with nitrogen so that it didn't rely on gravity to make it work. It was dependable in freezing cold and desert heat and could also write underwater and upside down. The trick was to have the ink flow when needed and not the rest of the time - a problem Fisher later solved.
Fisher's development couldn't have come at a more opportune time. The space race was on and the astronauts involved in the Mercury and Gemini missions had been using pencils to take notes in space since standard ball points did not work in zero gravity.
The Fisher cartridge did work in the weightlessness of outer space and the astronauts, beginning with the October 1968 Apollo 7 mission, began using the Fisher AG-7 Space Pen and cartridge developed in 1966. In July 1969, the Apollo 11 space mission used the Fisher Space Pen to fix an arming switch that was crucial to bringing back the astronauts safely back to earth - taking writing instruments and their use to a whole other level.
Since 1950, the Fisher Space Pen company has produced the most innovative, dependable, writing instruments on earth. Designed to withstand the rigors of space travel, Fisher Pens have earned the reputation of a superior technical pen for all applications. The NASA Astronaut Pen is the most well known of the Fisher Product line, praised for its durability, dependability and design. The New York Museum of Modern Art has cited the Fisher Bullet Pen as an outstanding example of industrial art.
