When the Lorentz contractions repeat every 3-5 minutes, dilation should increase to 10 cm.
Three times, a quick search reveals, this board has touched on the topic. The first two are inconclusive:
Ejaculate distance on the moon Ejaculate distance on the moon - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
masturbation in spacemasturbation in space - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
The Master Humself goes there three times, but way back starting in 1997:
**Has anyone ever had sex in space?**Has anyone ever had sex in space? - The Straight Dope
Somewhere’s there’s a Snopes on the Russian case.
Not a single thread close to addressing Siam Siam’s point.
Eh, yes!
That’s like questioning the need for a toilet in zero-G!!!
Being as NASA totally checks out every contingency, they would be negligent to not discuss this need with her and plan accordingly. Just one more thing think about before the mission.
Note: This is called “Thinking ahead” or “Planning ahead”.
I have been married for 34 years, in addition to which I have two sisters and a daughter, and I wouldn’t be able to take anything more than a random guess how long a tampon lasts.
:golf clap:
Regards,
Shodan
So what is the right number for a 7-day mission with 1 female astronaut, assuming up to 3 additional days as contingency, and including spares for possible mishaps?
If she’s up there for just over a month, she won’t need extra tampons. >_<
I’m pretty sure the ISS is held together by used tampons.
At least it looked that way in the movie Gravity.
It’s all fun and science in zero-G until someone gets hit in the face with a vaginal blood ball.
That’s an odd assumption. I’m dubious about the factual premise (there are lots of different educational backgrounds for astronauts), but as a matter of English syntax it would be pretty odd to refer to them as astronauts in one sentence and then engineers in the second if you meant to refer to the same people.
[QUOTE=Relevant quote]
According to Edward Tufte’s book Envisioning Information, space debris includes a glove lost by astronaut Ed White on the first American space-walk (EVA); a camera lost by Michael Collins near Gemini 10; garbage bags jettisoned by Soviet cosmonauts during Mir’s 15-year life,[24] a wrench and a toothbrush. Sunita Williams of STS-116 lost a camera during an EVA. During an STS-120 EVA to reinforce a torn solar panel a pair of pliers was lost, and in an STS-126 EVA Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper lost a briefcase-sized tool bag.[30]
[/QUOTE]
(emphasis mine)
It’s odd as a matter of English syntax, agreed.
But it’s even more odd to say in one sentence that a certain group of people had a certain responsibility and then in the next sentence describe what a completely different group of people did in fulfilling that responsibility, with no explanation at all.
If it was me, I would want a supply of 15 which would include a few extras. While they say you should change them every 4 hours during your heaviest flow, I never actually woke myself up in the middle of the night to change them. (I would combine a tampon and a pad for that.)
The questions if they’re even needed for zero-G aren’t silly. Small stressors often cause a woman to skip period. There were times when I missed periods for things as trivial as taking a business trip. You just never know. I was also never able to predict when I would have heavier than usual flows.
I think pads require gravity.
I don’t think the Space Shuttle was capable of staying in orbit for so long. The longest duration STS mission was 17 days long, and that was only possible when the orbiter was equipped with the Extended Duration Orbiter pallet, first used in 1992.
The way I read it, she’s saying that some female astronauts were supposed to determine how many tampons were required. That process consisted of them talking to some (almost certainly male) engineers, and the engineers posed the question to the astronauts.
While it’s true that some astronauts have engineering backgrounds, when an astronaut refers to “the engineers”, she’s most likely referring to the people doing engineering work for the mission, who would certainly not be astronauts. I would not expect an astronaut to refer to fellow astronauts as “the engineers”.
–Mark
From what I have heard, though they seem the same to us, have a different meaning to ‘them’, Astronaut = one who visited space; Cosmonauts = those who live in space.
No, they wouldn’t - what, you think the menstrual flow would just stay parked in her vagina? However, pads are more likely to leak under zero-g conditions if the woman’s undergarments are at all loose. They also take up more space.
Wouldn’t it be more practical, instead of tampons, to use pills to prevent menstruation in the first place? They’d probably be lighter, and would certainly be a lot more convenient.
Well, yes, that would also work but I don’t think they were approved for that use at the time Sally Ride was going into space.
You can also get “breakthrough” bleeding with hormonal birth control at times, so it’s still a good idea to have a few tampons around for just in case.
I think you need to use tampons in space, because the wick effect makes up for the lack of gravity. I know. I prefer pads too. I leak around tampons, and can’t stop feeling them most of the time. I really don’t get women who use them. I use them so I can take my son swimming, but that’s only since the old diaphragm I used to use for swimming and biking finally gave up the ghost.
I found that lecture annoying too, but it was mostly about what you couldn’t do. It was always a choice not to wear make-up. I was told before I went to basic that I’d need to buy make-up for this “class”-- it was really a 20 minute lecture about how you can’t look like a whore when you are in uniform, so you have to keep make-up to a minimum. We were told things like mascara was OK but false eyelashes were not, and that eyeshadow on your eyelid was OK, but above it was not-- the “smokey” look wasn’t in yet, but it would not be OK in uniform. We were also told that base was frowned upon in the extreme, but if you used it to cover acne or acne scars, you could probably get away with it in dress uniform. You might get told to take it off in BDUs, though, where they preferred no make-up at all.
This lecture actually left me very relieved, because I never wear make-up.