> This is like the story where some government tried to come up with a super high-tech pen that works in the space (because regular pens don't work in zero gravity environment) when the final answer was just a pencil.

The debris from a broken pencil or from sharpening one is a real hazard in space. Pens that work in zero gravity were privately developed by the Fisher Pen Company and bought by both NASA and the Soviets for a very reasonable price.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_in_space