Comment: Science Fiction author Spider Robinson recently published a book
titled The Crazy Years, a collection of columns he wrote for the Toronto
Globe & Mail.
In the book, he recounts a tale he swears is true: during the Apollo 11
mission, astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin accidentally broke the ingnition
switch while removing their suits while preparing to lift off from the
moon. They were apparently doomed until Aldrin used his space pen to
short together the electrical contacts in the broken switch. In
Robinson's words, Aldrin thus became the first human to hot-wire a vehicle
on another planet!
Have you any idea if this actually happened? I have doubts about the
story because Mr. Robinson reiterates the urban legend about the expense
the space program went to in developing the space pen, a legend which you
debunk on your web site.
