I get the impression they were also preparing for a potential freak discovery where it turns out zero G has an extreme effect on the menstrual cycle, and they suddenly need a lot of them.
How long could the shuttle stay up there if it was deemed unsafe to return?
They might have been preparing to orbit for long enough to launch a rescue mission.
100 is probably still to many. I’m suprized they didn’t just buy a box of them, or ask the manufacturers, who surely have the most data on average tampon consumption.
Tbh, the story was reported by Ride on a talk show for laughs. It’s not exactly a well-documented incidence.
Likely, the package they ordered had 100pcs in them (because it’s meant for commercial clients) and they asked her something like “We got 100 here, how many do you need?”
It’s of course fun to insinuate that NASA engineers have never been close to women and thus have no idea how tampons work, but it’s more likely that this was just played up for laughs at a talk show.
I get the impression they were also preparing for a potential freak discovery where it turns out zero G has an extreme effect on the menstrual cycle, and they suddenly need a lot of them.
If you have a sample size of 0 and a backup plan of “crash and burn”, it does make sense to be extra careful with the preparation.
I prefer my backup plans to include “halt and catch fire”
“halt” might be difficult in orbit.
This implies that catching fire is easy while in orbit with minimal, if any, atmosphere.
Interesting take.
It’s not that hard. You just have to lose a little bit of speed, enough for re-entry, and there’s your fire.
How long could the shuttle stay up there if it was deemed unsafe to return?
They might have been preparing to orbit for long enough to launch a rescue mission.
100 is probably still to many. I’m suprized they didn’t just buy a box of them, or ask the manufacturers, who surely have the most data on average tampon consumption.
Why ask the manufacturer about the average consumption when you can ask the person in question about the real consumption?
Tbh, the story was reported by Ride on a talk show for laughs. It’s not exactly a well-documented incidence.
Likely, the package they ordered had 100pcs in them (because it’s meant for commercial clients) and they asked her something like “We got 100 here, how many do you need?”
It’s of course fun to insinuate that NASA engineers have never been close to women and thus have no idea how tampons work, but it’s more likely that this was just played up for laughs at a talk show.
Yeah it’s a lot like the Russian pencil/ vs space pen meme at this point. (Spoiler, Russia ended up using space pens from Fischer too)
I dislike the engineers have no common sense trope, as it’s another instance of sowing distrust in experts that’s been going on since the late 70s.
No