NASA once asked astronaut Sally Ride if 100 tampons would be enough for her week-long mission in space, but she later clarified that this number was excessive. While the engineers were concerned about potential needs, Ride humorously noted that a much smaller amount would suffice.
Tbh, this is not quite as dumb as it sounds. Tampons weigh nothing and if there’s no way to resupply, it’s not quite as dumb to take more than you need. What if, for example, there’s a series defect on these things and a large portion of them are defective?
In fact, when they asked her said it’s excessive, to which they told her they wanted to be on the safe side, so she said to cut it in half and bring 50pcs (which is still excessive for most periods, but on the safe side).
In fact, in the same mission they also brought jelly beans, which were entirely irrelevant to the mission, because Reagan insisted on his favourite snack to go to orbit. They were likely heavier than 100 tampons and also much less necessary up there.
I get the impression they were also preparing for a potential freak discovery where it turns out zero G has an extreme effect on the menstrual cycle, and they suddenly need a lot of them.
How long could the shuttle stay up there if it was deemed unsafe to return?
They might have been preparing to orbit for long enough to launch a rescue mission.
100 is probably still to many. I’m suprized they didn’t just buy a box of them, or ask the manufacturers, who surely have the most data on average tampon consumption.
On NASA defence is not the first time that due problems with vehicles an astronaut have to stay up there for much much much longer than their planed stance.
At the end I think the astronaut said that 50 would be enough. So the NASA estimate wasn’t really that far off. As it’s totally normal for a woman to use half or double the tampons than other woman during period.
Still a pretty dumb approach by the NASA guys. Didn’t it occur to them to ask a woman - any woman - before coming up with the initial estimate? Like “hey Sally, how many tampons do you normally need during your period? OK we’ll triple that for a safety margin.” There. Done.
Tbh, this is not quite as dumb as it sounds. Tampons weigh nothing and if there’s no way to resupply, it’s not quite as dumb to take more than you need. What if, for example, there’s a series defect on these things and a large portion of them are defective?
In fact, when they asked her said it’s excessive, to which they told her they wanted to be on the safe side, so she said to cut it in half and bring 50pcs (which is still excessive for most periods, but on the safe side).
In fact, in the same mission they also brought jelly beans, which were entirely irrelevant to the mission, because Reagan insisted on his favourite snack to go to orbit. They were likely heavier than 100 tampons and also much less necessary up there.
I get the impression they were also preparing for a potential freak discovery where it turns out zero G has an extreme effect on the menstrual cycle, and they suddenly need a lot of them.
If you have a sample size of 0 and a backup plan of “crash and burn”, it does make sense to be extra careful with the preparation.
I prefer my backup plans to include “halt and catch fire”
“halt” might be difficult in orbit.
This implies that catching fire is easy while in orbit with minimal, if any, atmosphere.
Interesting take.
It’s not that hard. You just have to lose a little bit of speed, enough for re-entry, and there’s your fire.
How long could the shuttle stay up there if it was deemed unsafe to return?
They might have been preparing to orbit for long enough to launch a rescue mission.
100 is probably still to many. I’m suprized they didn’t just buy a box of them, or ask the manufacturers, who surely have the most data on average tampon consumption.
Why ask the manufacturer about the average consumption when you can ask the person in question about the real consumption?
On NASA defence is not the first time that due problems with vehicles an astronaut have to stay up there for much much much longer than their planed stance.
At the end I think the astronaut said that 50 would be enough. So the NASA estimate wasn’t really that far off. As it’s totally normal for a woman to use half or double the tampons than other woman during period.
But it is a funny story indeed.
Still a pretty dumb approach by the NASA guys. Didn’t it occur to them to ask a woman - any woman - before coming up with the initial estimate? Like “hey Sally, how many tampons do you normally need during your period? OK we’ll triple that for a safety margin.” There. Done.