# Did NASA really ask Sally Ride this question? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478 "2016-09-21T01:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/21 "2016-09-21T05:42:20Z")
Periods vary between individuals though don’t they? Isn’t it best to ask the person who will be using them how much she thinks she needs rather than Barbara in accounts or Hermione in the rocket lab? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/22 "2016-09-21T05:46:08Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Well, it’s not rocket science. Off topic, you’ve reminded me of this sketch: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/THNPmhBl-8I/hqdefault.jpg "Brain Surgeon - That Mitchell & Webb Look , Series 3 - BBC Two") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THNPmhBl-8I) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/23 "2016-09-21T06:06:28Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > This was obviously a joke, but [Western propaganda](http://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/29/world/an-apron-for-soviet-woman-in-space.html) at the time took it seriously. And I suspect you miss an even bigger joke. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/24 "2016-09-21T07:22:52Z")
Maybe they were worried about Einsteinian time dilation. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/25 "2016-09-21T08:28:28Z")
Ok, so 100 is evidently a ridiculously high number. And apparently 50 is more than plenty. What is the actual answer? Not that I ever imagined myself caring before now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/26 "2016-09-21T08:48:50Z")
I don’t see why 100 is such a ridiculous number. If I were calculating, say, how much toilet paper I’d need, I’d figure out the amount I’d use in an absolute worst-case scenario, and then double it. 2x is a good engineering safety margin and I see no reason to ignore the principle here, especially given their low mass. [This article](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/period-cost-lifetime_n_7258780.html) says they should be changed every 4-8 hours. Going with 4 hours, 6 tampons a day for 7 days is 42, which comes to 84 with the safety margin. Given NASA, I have to assume that whatever answer was given will be written up in a document somewhere and considered the standard for tampon allowances for all future missions. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to bump the daily amount to 8 (3-hour changes) to account for women with a higher than average flow. That’s 112 with the safety factor. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/27 "2016-09-21T09:04:18Z")
And don’t forget that an emergency might have led her to be up there for over a month. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/28 "2016-09-21T11:00:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Do women even need them in zero-G? In space, no one can hear you bleed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/29 "2016-09-21T11:09:08Z")
While there were doubtless a number of women working at NASA, there are really only two categories of NASA employees who are relevant here: The set of engineers who will be planning out the supply list, and the set of employees who will be using the tampons. The first set might well have happened to be all male (especially given the extreme gender skew of engineers), and the second set consisted of Sally Ride. So that’s obviously who they asked. The humor, such as it is, in this story comes not from the fact that they asked, but in their initial guess. If they genuinely had no idea (which isn’t at all implausible), then they should have just led off with the question, without the initial estimate. “How many tampons will you need, in a worst-case scenario?”, not “Is 100 the number of tampons you will need?”. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/30 "2016-09-21T11:18:19Z")
I wonder if the engineers were thinking in binary? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/31 "2016-09-21T12:25:26Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Exactly, and how can she be so confident that her body would behave in the same manner in a place completely foreign to her and her ancestry? Well… let’s see… Male humans had been up there and while there were some side-effects bodies largely behaved the same… The Soviets had sent up a woman and she hadn’t exploded or anything… Assuming there would be little difference wasn’t that unreasonable at that point. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, to be fair, I wouldn’t know either, and I’m married five years (together ten) and have lived with women a good portion of my life. I would guess maybe 3-5 per period day, but I have no actual idea based on empirical observation. 100 does seem like complete overkill to me, but better to ask than be sorry. Actually, your guess was pretty good. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I read that interview to Mrs. SMV, and she laughed. But then she said, “On the other hand, I don’t know what effect zero gravity would have on it. So maybe they might need more.” And then pointed out that astronauts might find absorbent cotton useful for other, non-menstrual tasks. > > Then again, they could have simply asked Ride if she was going to need tampons at all on a seven-day mission. Unless the NASA engineers thought that women menstruate continously? Travel and significant changes in environment can lead to either a woman not having an expected period, or having one arrive early. We’re talking about a biological system, surprises aren’t unknown. Also, what a prior poster said about having to pack well in advance and unexpected delays. Also, they were probably trying to think ahead for future missions as well, once you have one woman astronaut you’ll probably get more. > [@eschereal](#): > > Do women even need them in zero-G? Yes, they do. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I don’t see why 100 is such a ridiculous number. If I were calculating, say, how much toilet paper I’d need, I’d figure out the amount I’d use in an absolute worst-case scenario, and then double it. 2x is a good engineering safety margin and I see no reason to ignore the principle here, especially given their low mass. Except launching even an ounce of mass into space is expensive. > [@](#): > > [This article](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/period-cost-lifetime_n_7258780.html) says they should be changed every 4-8 hours. Going with 4 hours, 6 tampons a day for 7 days is 42, which comes to 84 with the safety margin. Typically, the beginning of the flow is heavier than the end. So while the first day a woman might be changing her tampons every 4 hours by the last couple it will probably be every 8 hours. That’s also assuming a mission will overlap the complete span of time a woman is having her period, as opposed to just overlapping the beginning or end of one. Speaking as a woman with 40 years experience of monthly bleeding, I can’t recall ANY such period where I needed 40 pads or tampons. Yes, 50 should be plenty. Is it possible there are some women out there who would need more? Sure. But if Sally Ride had been one such woman she would have known that about herself and planning the mission would have taken that into account. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/32 "2016-09-21T12:35:13Z")
Serious (if strange) question: what happens to space trash? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/33 "2016-09-21T12:48:35Z")
Two possible fates: 1. out the airlock. Note that “out the airlock” can result in it burning up upon re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere either by design or just because. 2. saved on board for return to Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/34 "2016-09-21T13:10:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Except launching even an ounce of mass into space is expensive. Yeah, but you need to prepare for emergencies. It’s \*possible \*the water supply might spring a leak, and soak the other supplies, ruining both water and tampons, so you take spares for both. Far better to pay for that extra weight than risk running out. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/35 "2016-09-21T13:22:37Z")
Well, yeah… But it’s pretty routine for tampons to come individually wrapped in water-resistant wrappers, and it’s also possible to improvise menstrual supplies from other items in an emergency. I agree with Sally - 50 is plenty for a woman having a period in space. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/36 "2016-09-21T13:29:42Z")
I don’t get why people are incredulous about this; there were some people putting together supplies who weren’t familiar with a particular supply need, so they came up with a number with significant room for emergencies, then asked the crew member who would be using that particular item if their estimate would work. If the supply crew came up with a number based on some common publication that was actually too small, but didn’t ask her, and she ended up forced to improvise something with other supplies, people would be talking about those stupid engineers mansplaining periods to the woman when they could have just asked her. > [@Broomstick](#): > > . But if Sally Ride had been one such woman she would have known that about herself and planning the mission would have taken that into account. Planning the mission could only take that into account if they knew it, which they’d only know if they… asked her. Again, I don’t understand what people are incredulous about here, it sounds like simple straightforward communication. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/37 "2016-09-21T13:34:44Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > But it’s pretty routine for tampons to come individually wrapped in water-resistant wrappers, and it’s also possible to improvise menstrual supplies from other items in an emergency. I used leaking water as an example. Other things could happen. There’s lots of ways they \*could \*become ruined. Maybe some other item comes loose, and crushes them. Best take along spares. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/38 "2016-09-21T13:38:25Z")
I don’t know why people seem to be assuming that the “100 tampon” question was posed by clueless men. Ride herself seemed to be saying it was women who asked her the question. From the quote in Post #2 (emphasis added): > [@Sally Ride](#): > > But **there were a couple of other female astronauts, who were given the job of determining what should go in the makeup kit, and how many tampons should fly as part of a flight kit**. I remember the engineers trying to decide how many tampons should fly on a one-week flight; they asked, “Is 100 the right number?” She seems to be saying pretty clearly that the ones in charge of determining how many tampons were needed were female. (I assume the “engineers” in the second sentence are the same as the “astronauts” in the first - it’s my understanding that most astronauts are engineers, who serve as astronauts on specific flights.) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/39 "2016-09-21T13:41:58Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > One of them is that NASA asked Sally Ride if 100 tampons would be enough for a 7 day mission. Q: How were they supposed to know how fast she’d blow through them…? =D&R= ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/40 "2016-09-21T13:44:10Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Planning the mission could only take that into account if they knew it, which they’d only know if they… asked her. Again, I don’t understand what people are incredulous about here, it sounds like simple straightforward communication. Yeah, I don’t get it either. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I used leaking water as an example. Other things could happen. There’s lots of ways they \*could \*become ruined. Maybe some other item comes loose, and crushes them. Best take along spares. Crushed? They’re rolls of wadding/gauze. Not glass. You might destroy the cardboard box they’re in, or a cardboard applicator, but the tampons would still be usable (some don’t even use applicators, you just push them up the vaginia with a finger. Worst that happens is that you have to wash your finger, which you should do after visiting the Little Astronaut’s Cubby anyway.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478.md?page=3)