Did NASA send a woman to space with 100 tampons? | Is This Legit?

Sally Ride is most remembered for being the first American woman to go to space, breaking boundaries and stereotypes with her diligence and intelligence. But according to a now-viral KZbin video, her journey to space also included ...100 tampons. Comedian Marcia Belsky went viral across social media for her musical retelling of a time when NASA sent a woman to space for “only six days” with 100 tampons, then asked if that would be enough. Here's how we went about fact-checking it!
#SallyRide #Tampons #NASA
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This series got started thanks to a fact-checking development grant from the International Fact-Checking Network. The grant was supported by KZbin as part of the Google News Initiative, but KZbin doesn’t influence the editorial content of this series. (You can find our editorial standards linked below.)
Sources for this fact-check:
History.com: www.history.com/news/sally-ri...
Snopes: www.snopes.com/fact-check/nas...
NASA oral history: historycollection.jsc.nasa.go...
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[@rileystewart3170]

Tampons were packed with their strings connecting them, like a strip of sausages, so they wouldn't float away. Engineers asked Ride, "Is 100 the right number?" She would be in space for a week. "That would not be the right number," she told them. - Lynn Sherr’s biography on Ride

[@nathanjasper512]

This is totally fair though. You don't want them to float away. What did you expect them to do? Invent some kind of clear rectangular flexible resealable containment device for storing a bunch of small objects together? pfft. Get real.

[@lavane26]

Excellent video. Even if they didn't actually send the 100 tampons to space, it's still hilarious to think how they arrived at that number. Was it to be on the safe side, or did they just know nothing? It's so funny.

[@massacristduck3565]

Based on what I know, it was to be on the safe side. According to what I was told, it was for the purpose of her having them in the case of them being trapped in space. According to the same person, the mission would end on the first day of her period. Still, I feel that they had the technology to get them out of space before she had multiple periods.

[@ThePurpleCheesecakeZebra]

@@massacristduck3565 they could easily get stranded on earth aswell, if they reenter at the wrog time and land in the sea and their communications fail theyre kinda screwed if they dont have a way fo surviving

[@marinoinc]

I think the point of the song - that men don’t know much about women’s bodies is spot on though.

[@ZH8050]

The reality is that after Apollo-13 the NASA decided to prepare every mission for the worst case scenario. What if Sally Kristen Ride had to stay in space for more than 7 days? What if because of absence of gravity she would have heavy blood losses? I know women who use 4-5 tampons every day when they are menstruating.

[@KnightsWhoSayNi222]

@@ZH8050haha if she stayed longer than 7 days or even 2 months, she’s need maybe 60 at most. You only have your period once a month. Idk if you realize that.

[@ZH8050]

@@KnightsWhoSayNi222 yes, but NASA did not know how a woman's body would react in absence of gravity. Idk if you realize that a MAN invented the tampon. And it was a MAN who invented the PAP-Test. There are MEN who know a lot about womens' problems and know how to solve them.

[@soulhandler2227]

Thank you for clearing this up. I saw a reel today with this song and the person who posted it had the comments disabled, probably because she knew it wasn't true but still did it for the clicks.

[@massacristduck3565]

My best friends mom actually mentioned facts from her own resource about why 100! She claimed that NASA chose 100 in case they got stranded in space and that they tied the strings together so the tampons wouldn't fly around if they happened to get out the a container. Still, ONE HUNDRED TAMPONS. FOR A WEEK.

[@simply9659]

NASA did the right thing , ofc it’s dum but at the same time you never know plus the person could keep the other tampons because… THEY NOT CHEAP -

[@ThePurpleCheesecakeZebra]

think of it more as 100 for 2 months becasue you could get stranded. also we didnt (and still dont really) knw how 0G effects the flw andf the efficiency f tampons, they all ended up on birth ctrol for the missions but even then they have to send some incase it fails

[@ka1pana]

If they said, I am giving you 100 tampons, in case you get stranded... This would have made sensen. However they said for 6 days is 100 enough .... That shows they dont even know the basics of periods

[@karenpavlak382]

This is excellent! It's entertaining, well presented and interesting- and funny, and factual. Great story, great presentation.

[@lorenmiranda2973]

Great job on this Angie!!

[@annettemcerlean9095]

This was Wonderful! Very humorous and effective way to communicate an important point. Great job!

[@lindabanas9463]

Great fact-checking - funny content, well-presented. Super job!

[@cristinasanchezdelacruz192]

Thank you for the video! I was trying to know if it was actually true and you helped me a lot!

[@MediaWise]

You're welcome!!

[@BarbaraGoldman]

This was great! Keep going!! 👍🏽

[@BarbaraGoldman]

Thanks! 🎶☺️🎶

[@DFMurray]

100 Tampons is accurate...if you're an engineer and look at all problems from an engineering perspective. NASA always use the system of three's. Primary, Secondary, and Backup. According to Tampax, on average 3-6 products per day. NASA would err on the side of caution and use 6 per day. So 6 x 6 x 3 = 108.

[@ThePurpleCheesecakeZebra]

this makes so much sense, especially as they arent biolgists so dnt know if gravity has an effect o flow rate and arent gonna nesacarily know without testing it if tampons work in space

[@morrisginzburg1978]

Yeah, it's not like they are one of the most scientifically recognized institutions. Definitely couldn't have consulted with a biologist (which they do constantly, to check for nutritional diet, avoid muscle atrophy and many other human factors that are relevant when going to space). Or hell, even any woman could have helped

[@TheFeldhamster]

Tell me you're a male engineer without telling me you're a male engineer. Any female engineer would probably have suggested for Sally Ride to go on the pill and skip her period. Like who wants to deal with blood and tampons in zero G? That's a major hassle. And idk if her periods were bad or easy but you don't want one of your crew members to deal with cramps during the mission either. Unless you're going to explicitly research menstruation in space - which would be very inconvenient on a spaceflight that's only 6 days, you'd have to plan the start around her cycle to catch it. Any sane person would simply make sure she doesn't have her period when up there. And yes, you could already skip your period with the pills available in the 80s. Lots of women did, eg. when going on a beach vacation.

[@JJ-ze6vb]

Actual content starts at 1:30

[@sapphicism]

“i just plugged in ‘sally ride 100 tampons’” i see what you did there 👁👁 kidding aside, i love this. it’s such a great and informative video! i wanted to know if it was true as well :)

[@Ty_guy51264]

Someone just sum it up for me I fell asleep the second the ads stopped

[@panda20panda29]

They just assumed she needs 100 but didn't actually send all of them to space

[@Ty_guy51264]

​@@panda20panda29 Thanks, I got bored

[@fiorelladen4powerpuffpingl229]

It’s crazy how they didn’t know?? And worse that there were probably no women working there?!

[@MrDeanmfitz]

Who says make up is what they think women wanted first and foremost. The nasa ppl go out of their way to make people feel comfortable while in space, as it can be a very jarring experience. Its actually a thoughtful thing.

[@eeriened3525]

I have absolutely no problem believing this to be true

[@conorwhelan500]

Excellent video! Idk if its because of where im from or what but i always want people to speak a bit faster. But other than that shes dope as hell

[@darlingdivine]

Adjust the playback speed

[@tamoroso]

Nicely done.

[@MrDeanmfitz]

1 tampon every 8 hours is 3 a day. 18 for 6 days. Multiply that by the amount of women and 100 is very reasonable, if not enough.

[@MawngSoulSong]

Common. sure 100 may be too much but they always have way more supply than they ever need. For couples months . For example ISS have 2000 liters of water just for contingency

[@julianacarlos1250]

Omg, you're amazing

[@fefefefezzz]

Great video!

[@chaosgremlin1849]

Wouldn’t a cup just be easier??? It’s reusable so they’d save a lot of space which is really important right????

[@ThePurpleCheesecakeZebra]

would have been worse if they calculated the exact number she needed but then got to space to find she needed more because space and now shes stuck on the toilet all week so she diesnt bleed into the space station. imagine the news articles the sun would write with a tampon shaped like a rocket saing "woman bleeds all over rocket"

[@ZH8050]

The reality is that after Apollo-13 the NASA decided to prepare every mission for the worst case scenario. What if Sally Kristen Ride had to stay in space for more than 7 days? What if because of absence of gravity she would have heavy blood losses? I know women who use 4-5 tampons every day when they are menstruating.

[@TheFeldhamster]

They're still dumb, though. You want to send a woman into space, put her on the pill and tell her to skip her period. Like, who wants to deal with that sticky period blood in zero G? That's a major hassle. Idk if Sally Ride had bad periods but you don't want a crew member to deal with cramps and stuff during a mission either. The only reason for her to have her period on a space mission would be if you wanted to research menstruation in space and then NASA should have had a biologist and an ob/gyn on the team to design the experiment / observation protocol and shouldn't have to ask whether 100 was the correct number. They should at that point already have measured her average tampon consumption on earth to have a baseline for comparison. And they would have had to time the mission around her cycle which they didn't. Let's face it, they were just a bunch of ignorant males who probably thought of her being a woman as a major inconvenience to the planned space mission and not an opportunity to gather data about the other half of humanity.

[@thetruth2487]

Keep it up Not a bad moment Trust you

[@hannahirene459]

Wow! Snopes is definitely NOT a credible fact checking source but thank you for this video none the less- so funny!

[@MediaWise]

Hey Hannah! We like Snopes and they're an official signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. What fact-checking sources do you use?

[@melimelody2]

I love how NASA is willing to spend out tax payer money on 100 tampons and a custom makeup kit

[@PryMateYt]

I mean that’s barely expensive…

[@BossFinale]

Engineering. Redundancy.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Nah, stupidity. Or tech bros too proud to ask an ob/gyn. Like honestly, the correct solution is to put her on the pill and let her skip her period. Instead of mucking about with tampons and blood in zero G. And potentially cramps. It's not like they were trying to research menstruation biology in space anyway on a flight that was only 6 days long (that's only about a 1 in 4 chance to catch her period while she's up there).

[@JUGGERNAUT____]

Snopes is not a credible source.

[@Lifeoflove360]

Fax!!!

[@magnetmountain33]

It nonsense!!! No1 in space !!! Snopes is full of it !

[@mandymeier7864]

I think the song parody was intended to be humor exposing the unbelievable truth that nasa engineers did not know how many tampons would be needed for a female for 6 days. Literal scientist. Maybe debunk something other than parody humor. Humor is really not literal!

[@albertjjimenezp]

Sally was a great woman but the people only talk about 100 tampons from a different age context. I'm sorry if i prefer take the talk apart away to the right way

[@dukelornek]

I wouldn't go so far as saying mostly legit as the song says the sent but in the docs it says suggested. This is a large difference (still petty sad though). Also context I could see "Nasa" saying that as a jest or a sexist joke. Additionally the "engineers" are not equivalent to Nasa. Also Also who were the engineers was it all of them, what were they the engineers of. . .

[@ewesteap3712]

Thank you for this. Is like saying I work for one of the largest companies in the world and a receptionist didn't know who I was. Headline: " X company does not care for any their employees and does not even know their names!" Ridiculous.

[@simply9659]

Let’s be real NASA is no where near sexist , tho the make up fit thing was weird but if I’m getting for free…. PLEASE SIGN ME UP NASA !!! also this was long time ago it’s funny but yk ..