When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found
out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity. In order to solve this
problem, they hired Andersen Consulting (Accenture today). It took
them one decade and 12 million dollars. They developed a pen that
worked at zero gravity, upside down, under water, on practically any
surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below
freezing to over 300 degrees C.

The Russians used a pencil.