Overkill

The Epitome of Space research, NASA, sometimes has  scientists who think too much.  Here's a simple example of their over-creativity.
In the early days of the American space program,  NASA received reports from the astronauts that  their pens would not write in space.  Ball points, fountain pens, even quills, nothing worked!  So NASA contacted the people who had supplied the pens  and made money available for the production of a pen  which would write in space, Eventually, thousands of dollars later,  a suitable pen was produced, incorporating a small gas filled  cylinder which propelled the ink out of the pen. It worked both in  space and underwater. The problem was solved,  albeit at great expense.  Many years later, when co-operation with the Russians was  established, it occurred to someone at NASA to  ask how the Russians had solved the problem.
There was no problem, they said, we used a pencil.