Anecdote of the Day, I guess

During the space race in the 1960's NASA was faced with the problem of needing a pen that could write in the vacuum of space. They spent $1.5 million developing such a pen.

The Soviet Union was also faced with this problem.

They used a pencil.

[I researched this a little and found it to be somewhat inaccurate but the message of it is still a good one! In the actual story, the pen was developed (at high cost) by a third party. The pen did make it safer to use in space for several reasons, look it up if you're curious. But what does this say about America's ingenuity? Which lesson do you think is more inspiring, the one that discourages wastefulness by outside the box thinking, or the one that highlights the creativity and determination of the human mind?]