# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/121 "2016-09-23T18:31:05Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Most astronauts are in their late 30’s to mid-40’s. By that age yes, the typical woman knows how many tampons she is likely to use in a month, and whether or not she’s likely to deviate from that a great deal. You didn’t seem to read what I actually wrote. She may know what you said, but not EVERYONE knows how many SHE uses. And her usage pattern is not STANDARD for everyone, and other women do DEVIATE from that amount. All of the capped words were in the statement you were replying to, and indicate pretty clearly that I was not disputing the idea that a woman in her 30’s knows how many tampons she is likely to use, but rather meant the thing I actually said. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/122 "2016-09-23T18:40:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Again, the issue wasn’t that they asked the question. That’s the appropriate thing to do, when you don’t have a clue. The issue was that they prefaced the question with a number for which they had no real basis. It’s pretty normal for people to make an off-the-cuff estimate before asking a question about quantity. Not only do I not get why you think there was no real basis for it (I gave two off-the-cuff possible basises without spending much time on it), I have no idea why it’s supposed to be a big deal even if it was nothing more than a WAG. If the guy did months of study and came up with 100 it would be pretty dumb, but I don’t see anything indicating that the questioner spent more than a couple of minutes coming up with the number. If someone asked me “Sure I can pick up beer for you, how much do you want, a case?” I can’t see myself getting incredulous that they’d think I actually want that much and recounting the story of their odd question decades later, even though I normally won’t finish a six-pack in a night so would want less than a fourth of that. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/123 "2016-09-23T18:45:19Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I don’t know that shaving or bleeding increases the net weight on the spaceship. The mere act of shaving doesn’t increase the weight - but having to bring equipment for shaving does, whether it’s an electric razor or blades + a can of shaving cream. Likewise with menstruation: a menstruating astronaut requires extra supplies that a non-menstruating astronaut does not. The argument was made upthread that NASA was probably being particular about the # of tampons brought on a mission because of weight concerns, and my counterpoint was that if that were true, then NASA would also have forbade bringing shaving equipment for the male astronauts, owing to that same weight concern. But they did have shaving equipment on board - not just for men’s faces, [but also for the women’s legs](http://www.xovain.com/how-to/how-do-astronauts-shave-in-space) - and so I think that even though NASA may have charged payload customers by the ounce, they probably didn’t worry so much about the weight requirements associated with the preferred hygiene practices of the astronauts. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/124 "2016-09-23T18:50:34Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > [ol] > [li]You ask, oh, I dunno, maybe the fucking medical staff? I realize undertanding of menstruation was still in its infancy in the late 1970’s but…[/li][li]You don’t ask “is 100 the right number?”, you ask, you ask 'how many?"[/li][li]Does it fit the stereotype of “geeky engineers know nothing about girlz?” Check.[/li][/ol] > > Apocryphal. > > And my bullshit detector is only set for normal sensitivity. 1. How on earth would the “fucking medical staff” know how many tampons Sally Ride uses in a month? Are you again assuming that all women are identical? 2. It’s entirely reasonable for an engineer to make a WAG before determining the actual requirements. It’s arguable that it wasn’t necessary for the engineer to actually mention that WAG in his question, but it’s certainly not horrendously unreasonable that he did. 3. Well, that’s why Ride mentioned it in the interview. I also have my doubts about whether the conversation happened exactly as she recounted it 20 years later. Not sure what you mean by “apocryphal”. Clearly Ride did say this in the interview that was quoted above. Are you claiming that she invented the whole story? As a geeky male engineer myself, I’m not as offended by the story as you seem to be. –Mark ---
**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 23, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/125 "2016-09-23T18:53:22Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The mere act of shaving doesn’t increase the weight - but having to bring equipment for shaving does, whether it’s an electric razor or blades + a can of shaving cream. > > Likewise with menstruation: a menstruating astronaut requires extra supplies that a non-menstruating astronaut does not. > > The argument was made upthread that NASA was probably being particular about the # of tampons brought on a mission because of weight concerns, and my counterpoint was that if that were true, then NASA would also have forbade bringing shaving equipment for the male astronauts, owing to that same weight concern. On rereading your earlier post, I see that this was clear your first paragraph. Sorry for missing that. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/126 "2016-09-23T19:29:17Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Are you claiming that she invented the whole story? I’m claiming this part is made up, yes. > [@](#): > > I remember the engineers trying to decide how many tampons should fly on a one-week flight; they asked, “Is 100 the right number?” > > “No. That would not be the right number.” > > They said, “Well, we want to be safe.” > > I said, “Well, you can cut that in half with no problem at all.” The story doesn’t offend me in the least. ---
**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 23, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/127 "2016-09-23T19:32:10Z")
Why do you find that part so improbable? ---
**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 24, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/128 "2016-09-24T01:07:49Z")
Even if it’s made up (or misremembered or whatever), it’s not apocryphal. We have the story from the most authoritative source possible. And I’m not sure why one would even think it was made up. It had to come from somewhere, and engineers who were genuinely clueless sounds a lot more plausible to me than Ride just inventing it from whole (cotton) cloth. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/129 "2016-09-24T07:28:39Z")
There are three tampons, which one will talk to you? None of them, they’re all stuck up cunts. ---
**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 24, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478/130 "2016-09-24T11:02:19Z")
And, we’re pretty much done here. Ride, Sally, ride! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nasa-really-ask-sally-ride-this-question/766478.md?page=6)