Vagina MuseumSally Ride was the first American woman and first lesbian in space, first flying in 1983. Before she flew, NASA weren't really sure what a woman in space might need, so suggested providing her with 100 tampons. For a six day mission.
Ride's first space flight took place more than 20 years after cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Part of NASA's delay in sending a woman to space was that they were worried menstrual blood would flow backwards in microgravity, wreaking all sorts of havoc.
(incidentally, sometimes period blood *does* flow backwards into the pelvic cavity. It turns out that this is usually perfectly harmless, more on retrograde menstruation here:) https://masto.ai/@vagina_museum/111381001900415323
Our podcast episode Space Gynaecology explores gynaecology in space... and what this research might mean for heavy menstrual bleeding back on earth. Featuring an interview with space gynaecologist Varsha Jain https://pod.link/1488645205/episode/YWMxNGJhNWUtMGZhYy00MjVjLTk1MGMtZGE3MTg0MjM0OGFl
Я⊛ḶḶ model ☭can't decide if i should study astromycology or space gynecology. maybe i'll double major.
CEDunn@vagina_museum
I met Sally Ride when I was working on the GRAIL mission. She was an impressive human being, and the world is less without her.
I met Sally Ride when I was working on the GRAIL mission. She was an impressive human being, and the world is less without her.
"sorry, i can't tonight. menstruation is in retrograde."
peachfront
Cat Herder 💔 🗽 🇺🇲
Bimbo@vagina_museum Could menstrual blood not provide some form of propulsion perhaps?
xyhhx 
@xyhhx @vagina_museum it's not a serious post, don't overthink it
@BigTittyBimbo @vagina_museum been thinking about it all morning tbh
schratze@vagina_museum and, of course, the uterus could become loose in microgravity and tumble around within the female body, causing hysteria.
Michael 🇺🇦@vagina_museum As for Valentina Tereshkova, this was essentially a publicity stunt. Take a look at the number of female cosmonauts: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_…
By the way, as a German, I think it's a real shame that the first German female astronaut was launched just one year ago on a private mission, not even a state one.
pallas@heluecht @vagina_museum URL at the end of the sentence adds the point to the URL 🫤 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_astronauts
jerOh, you think there is a space race?
Chris [list of emoji]
Айсылу 
@suetanvil @vagina_museum I've read this in the voice of Comic Book Guy
I wrote it in a weak, low-effort impression of Comic Book Guy's voice, so your brain has improved it.
Agnieszka R. Turczyńska@vagina_museum Better that way, than another. The last time I've participated in so called "main stream social media" there were some men believing that one tampon for the whole period is enough...
HarriettMB@agturcz @vagina_museum One way to ensure plenty of women die from toxic shock syndrome. Or have Trump complaining they are ‘bleeding from every orifice’.
Will 🇯🇵@HarriettMB @CatHerder @agturcz @vagina_museum he had signs put up all over the building. Didn’t one of them include the Oval Orifice?
I guess that this is a result of not openly talking about this topic. I was raised in a household without a father but with my mother and my sister (we even talked about the period during dinner). So talking about the period was totally normal for me. Only later I found out that many men find this topic very disturbing.
Lizzie@agturcz Let's ask a professional who was there. @Trilobyter do you have any inside knowledge about this or similar types of decisions?? @[email protected]
Trilobyter@Lizette603_23 @agturcz that was a few years before I joined the program but I’ve heard the story, and apparently she did once confirm being asked about the needed quantity in advance of the mission, and it was a big overestimate, but there’s not a clear record about what was actually provided. I also have read they thought she would need a makeup kit in space.
@Lizette603_23 @agturcz one thing I did witness over my 37 years working for NASA human spaceflight was a transition of the original mostly white male workforce into something much more diverse, including, at least in Orion S/W, pretty close to a 50/50 male/female mix. At the time of my retirement (last week) my immediate technical manager was female, as was her boss, and as was the next one above her. All excellent people to work with/for.
@Lizette603_23 @agturcz A good example, here’s a photo of the workforce in the new Science Evaluation Room (SER) in the Mission Control building at JSC this week. They provide the back room support to the Science console (also new) in the main Mission Control Room that they show on TV. (Lots of very happy people in there this week.)
@Trilobyter Thanks for the info about your experience. If I bug you asking things like this just say the word.
@Trilobyter hahahahaa omg makeup kit
Jaimie's Erotica@vagina_museum I'll bet she's sick of people singing 'Mustang Sally' at her...'Ride, Sally, Ride'....
Comrade Weez@Jaimieserotica or at least was before she died in 2012. 🫲 🫤 🫱 @vagina_museum
Vrtxd
Proof That NASA Doesn’t Know Anything About Women - Marcia Belsky
Sailor Anarres@vagina_museum probably slightly better than packing none at least
MercuryCreativeWriterScrew@vagina_museum I wonder why they would be the ones supplying the tampons I would think she packed her own bags in that regard, like did they pack her toothbrush as well
Leeloo@Mercurial @vagina_museum
They likely require vacuum sealed for space saving reasons. Not just something you buy at a grocery store.
They likely require vacuum sealed for space saving reasons. Not just something you buy at a grocery store.
@vagina_museum @leeloo right, save space in space! This makes sense
@leeloo @vagina_museum no, I got it. I was just trying to make a joke. Of course you’re right.
@Mercurial @vagina_museum
I thought as much, but thought it would be better to clarify before someone else doesn't get the joke.
Besides, you aren't exactly wrong either, there isn't infinite room on the ISS, even though it's a lot larger than the launch vehicle.
GhostOnTheHalfShellI guess I thought she had would have a heavy flow
Extra_Special_Carbon@vagina_museum Now I want to know, what is the min/max/mean number of tampons one might need for a cycle?
Patsy (she/her)@vagina_museum
I know everyone dunks on NASA for this, but I don't think it's totally unreasonable. Anytime I go on holiday I bring about 3x more than I could possibly use, just in case. Like with knickers.
I know everyone dunks on NASA for this, but I don't think it's totally unreasonable. Anytime I go on holiday I bring about 3x more than I could possibly use, just in case. Like with knickers.
ipod squirrel 🎧🐿️@vagina_museum i mean if she met some undersupplied bevaginad aliens she'd be in a great position to assist!
Bumper HarvestProof That NASA Doesn’t Know Anything About Women - Marcia Belsky
Stéphane Bortzmeyer@vagina_museum It's not stupid to pack extra tampons just in case, think of Sunita Williams "The mission was supposed to last eight days, but technical problems stranded Williams and crewmate Butch Wilmore on the ISS for more than nine months." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunita_Williams#Boeing_Starliner_incident_and_return_to_Earth
Stoneface Vimes@vagina_museum I'd have been inclined to say "no way. Need far more than that" just for the giggles.
Мя ��@vagina_museum have they considered...you know, asking Sally first? 
Binks@mo @vagina_museum I mean, they did. They asked her if that supply would be sufficient for any contingency. And everyone dunks on them for the "hur dur, so many for 6 days!" stuff, but NASA plans for worst-case scenarios and sends astronauts up with lots of extra supplies in case they get stranded up there regularly.
trainguyrom@Binks @mo @vagina_museum yeah I really want to know the full context between that exchange that folks love to dunk on. Yes many men have zero clue about anything related to a uterus, but I could absolutely see it as some engineer calculating the mass budget for the question of "do we have sufficient payload budget for any menstrual products this astronaut may need?" And the answer being a half-joking "well is 100 tampons sufficient?"
There's so many ways that often-reported quote could have been entirely reasonable and not entirely based in poor understanding of women's anatomy. There's also the distinct possibity that it was in fact an incredible level of misunderstanding uterus-havers
Acmeworks@vagina_museum I wonder if 100 tampons would be sufficient to take up all liquid components of a human body?!
Verena Rupp
Alpaca Male@vagina_museum It's easy to make fun of NASA, but they're definitely not stupid. They ALWAYS plan for a variety of scenarios, which may include an unexpected prolongation of the mission - as has happened last year when a return capsule failed. Add the typical NASA redundancy and insecurity about physiological processes in space, and 100 tampons doesn't seem unreasonable.
Stylus@vagina_museum OK but what happens if you forgetfully put some used menstrual products into the space toilet?
@vagina_museum Bloody hell!
Curio@vagina_museum
Can you smell that?
deep nasal breath
Yeah, it’s a room full of panicing men.
Elisabeth M@vagina_museum Rocket scientists couldn't think up a way to ask Sally for her opinion