They also spent lots of money and time trying to develop an electric razor that would not create small beard particles that would float around and possibly short out or contaminate delicate instruments. They finally decided shaving cream with a razor blade would do the job.
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 Billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300C. The Russians used a pencil.