![]() Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, in 2002. It went on display in the Human Spaceflight at the Steven F. The optional - and unused - makeup kit included eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, eye makeup remover, blusher, and lip gloss. But in a predominantly male field in the 1980s, experts apparently had limited knowledge in the types of hygiene items that would be necessary for a woman. These kits typically contain items like a toothbrush, lotion, deodorant, comb, and razor. ![]() It is not uncommon for astronauts to head to space with their own personal hygiene kits, which have been issued as standard equipment for astronauts since the 1960s. Sally Ride: "The engineers at NASA, in their infinite wisdom, decided that women astronauts would want makeup – so they designed a makeup kit… You can just imagine the discussions amongst the predominantly male engineers about what should go in a makeup kit." #RideOn #Classof78 /dNZ51cWELH “The engineers at NASA, in their infinite wisdom, decided that women astronauts would want makeup - so they designed a makeup kit,” Ride was quoted as saying in a January 2018 tweet shared by the NASA History Office. In that same interview, Ride noted that the engineers had also decided that women astronauts would want makeup. NASA engineers apparently had a history of sending women to space with inadequate supplies. “I said, ‘Well, you can cut that in half with no problem at all.’” “They said, ‘Well, we want to be safe,’” continued Ride. She replied that, “No, that would not be the right number.” “I remember the engineers trying to decide how many tampons should fly on a one-week flight they asked, ‘Is 100 the right number?’” Ride recalled, according to the transcript. In a 2002 oral history interview with Rebecca Wright, then coordinator for the NASA Johnson Space Center History Office, Ride was asked what items NASA had added to her flight kit, including the tampons in question. (Before Ride, Russia sent female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova to space in 1963.) ![]() Her job was to work the robotic arm to help release satellites into space, according to NASA. Ride became the first American woman to fly in space when she served as an astronaut on a mission aboard the Challenger space shuttle, which blasted off on June 18, 1983. But the physicist was quick to set them straight. It’s true that NASA engineers asked Ride how many tampons she might need during her time in space. ![]()
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