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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums@NASA apparently asked Sally Ride, the first woman in space, if ONE HUNDRED tampons would be enough
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Raven the Science Maven
@ravenscimaven
Lmao @NASA apparently asked Sally Ride, the first woman in space, if ONE HUNDRED tampons would be enough for a week in space and if she needed more 😭😭 they actually didnt know how many tampons women used.
Wounded Bear
(58,440 posts)soothsayer
(38,601 posts)And it helps if youre not?
patricia92243
(12,590 posts)still_one
(91,962 posts)MineralMan
(146,192 posts)about anything menstrual. It's apparently a taboo subject.
I was lucky. My early 60s high school girlfriend educated me thoroughly about menstruation. She was very frank and thought I should understand it thoroughly.
PufPuf23
(8,688 posts)Not yet to university age 19 but with plans but working in home town with USFS in 1972. USFS was forced to by the court to hire women into jobs that were unconventional for woman in the agency and also because of changes in laws to hire a broader range of specialists. So the USFS hired a woman 7 years older with a Masters degree and we met and lived togther in my home town or Berkeley until 1977. We had our differences about how life woulld playout and I matured and left her.
So I learned much. When we moved in together, she provided a book Our Bodies, Ourselves that was relatively new then but became a classic useful for many.
LeftInTX
(24,554 posts)Sally is long gone.
The majority of NASA people were married. They knew their wives habits.
Chainfire
(17,308 posts)And I would have no clue how many would be required. I never thought to ask.
Midnightwalk
(3,131 posts)As a geek I can imagine the thought process.
Lets assume 1Kg weight allowance. Google how much one tampon weighs. Hmm. The results talk about absorbency not initial weight. Hmmm. Lets assume 10g per. Thats 100.
Then the panic sets in. Just how exactly do they work? Once an hour? Over 4 days 100 wouldnt be enough. Who can we ask? I know, lets ask Sally Ride.
Thats a statement on how few women were on the teams when they were figuring this out.
To be honest I have no idea how many are needed, but I know from buying them 100 is plenty. I could ask my wife for a more accurate number but she already thinks Im a nut and that would be taken as confirmation.
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)Is there and airlock for ejecting them into space?
Are the used ones in orbit still?
Midnightwalk
(3,131 posts)I wondered about that too and guessed they brought them back. You dont want solid waste at that speed cluttering up orbit. This time google was more help.
Im guessing waste doesnt matter in terms of weight. Its a closed system so the mass can only decrease (propellent use, leakage, any other dumps) not increase.
Still there might be some aspiring b-movie writer who is imagining what radiation might do. I hope they give up the plot.
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)Disaffected
(4,507 posts)Wouldn't want one of those to hit the windshield. .
Sanity Claws
(21,822 posts)Just look in a bathroom closet and see how many are in a package.
Did they follow up with questions about mini-pads for low flow days?
Maru Kitteh
(28,303 posts)Sanity Claws
(21,822 posts)Does a woman have menstrual flow in zero gravity?
But even if she doesn't, she would need tampons for take off and re-entry, when they are not in zero gravity.
procon
(15,805 posts)Seriously, normal bodily functions still goes on. Your heart keeps pumping blood, lungs, kidneys and liver do their thing. The bowels and bladder work, and the uterus continues its monthly housecleaning.
What did you think happens?
LeftInTX
(24,554 posts)procon
(15,805 posts)LeftInTX
(24,554 posts)I'm walking, yes indeed
I'm walking, I got gravity.
unitedwethrive
(1,997 posts)Female dancers, athletes and performers do it all the time. Heck, Im a pediatrician and I get asked regularly by teenagers how to avoid having a period at summer camp, or during an upcoming soccer tournament, or for prom. Its not that hard, particularly since most teens are already on oral contraceptives these days.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)I had read a long time ago about women who were able to delay a period for a wedding, for example
it does seem odd
LiberalFighter
(50,504 posts)As a young man living with parents and 3 sisters. I still did not know. I knew they used them because they were in the bathroom. But that was as far as it went.
LeftInTX
(24,554 posts)My mom told me that many women didn't get their periods on their wedding week. (Don't know if this was true..lol)
My grandmother was in the Armenian Genocide. She was 12 years old and was marched from Central Turkey to Syria on foot. When she finally reunited with her friends, they all marveled that NONE of them had their periods during the ordeal. They had lost numerous family members, they had seen people die, some had been raped and many were facing serious health problems themselves, (my grandmother lost an eye) but lack of periods was the big news.