The limited edition pen is inspired by the silver suits of the astronauts from the 1959 Project Mercury.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). The ASF was created in 1984 by the six of the seven Mercury 7 astronauts to encourage university students to pursue scientific excellence and ensure the United States would remain the global leader in science and technology for decades to come. That partnership continues to be carried on by astronauts of subsequent missions and has grown to one of the largest merit based scholarships of its kind.
Adam Finer, co-owner of Retro51 has worked with the ASF on several projects in the past and talks about how the Mercury 7 pen came about: “We talked last year to discuss what could be done for the ASF 40th anniversary. They mentioned how iconic the image of the astronauts in their silver suits was which led to the idea of recreating the suits onto the Tornado rollerball pen body.”
The silver metallic colour was used in combination with acid-etching and printing to put the details of the suit on the pen barrel and then was completed with white accents to represent the white helmets and shoes. The NASA logo and Mercury 7 logo were also used to represent these important early space missions.
“This is the fourth project we have worked on with ASF and are honoured to be able to do so,” says Adam. “The pen is often a forgotten tool we use day in and day out, but it has the power to capture ideas and new discoveries. The Mercury 7 pen is more than a pen, but an inspiration to work hard towards your goals and aspiring to keep pushing yourself to the next level.”
Retro51 is exhibiting on stand M312 at the London Stationery Show, 14-15 May. Visitor registration is now open and is free for retailers, buyers, dealers and other resellers of stationery. It is not open to the general public.
