One hundred tampons...

[TheNavyBee]

100 tampons Lyrics
[Verse]
Remember when NASA sent a woman to space for only six days and they gave her
100 tampons
100 tampons
And asked, "Will that be enough?"
'Cause they didn't know if that was enough
These are our nation's greatest minds
They are literally rocket scientists
100 tampons
100 tampons
I can picture it now
Come with me
I'm Sally Ride and I'm going to space for the first time
I'm walking tall, I feel so proud, then I see a man running panicked through the crowd
He's holding a large bag
I think, "What can this be?"
And then he hands 100 tampons to me
And then he hands 100 tampons to me
For one week
They could've asked me
I would've said "Maybe 33"
'Cause even if it were my period week
I might've already brought some with me
But you know
Thanks, I guess
100 tampons
A hundred tampons
526.000 tampons
526.000 tampons, in space

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uf6FjACR1f4

I'd have brought some with me just in case... but maybe not 100. I bet they were all regulars as well, no super super heavies or anything!

It's not like she can pop out to Aldi. They would send the maximum amount that she could possibly need for the mission with an unexpected really heavy flow, plus a fair bit more for a margin of error/wastage etc. So 100 actually isn't bad number.

That's just how NASA works, as far as I understand. Over - engineer, then add redundancy.

Well if we take an average period length of five days then that's 120 hours. Presumably you'd realise that if tampons routinely needed changing almost every hour of the day and night then nobody would use them. Obviously some women have much heavier periods than others, but if you needed to change a tampon on the hour every hour for five days then you'd probably be hospitalised(unless you were using very very lightweight ones for some reason). At the very least you wouldn't be fit for space flight.

It was six days not two weeks though

I believe the reasoning for this was that it was a long expedition and the scientists were unsure of the effects of zero gravity on menstrual flow. Which in itself I suppose is a problem due to lack of women in the field, hence periods in space being a lesser-researched area of science. Surely you’d rather have 100 tampons than none?

I know we laugh at this but if I was going to space for 14 days I'd probably take 100

I'd pack for a bad period of 10 days, usually 5 a day but could be 10 on a bad day. Plus accommodating for what happens if a box gets wet or damaged.

It's space, I can't get anymore and who knows how that's going to affect my menstrual cycle or the efficacy of a tampon. I'd rather be prepared

tampons are fantastic for repairing holes.

a menstrual cup in zero gravity sounds like a recipe for desaster

@ThreeTreeHill Exactly. Imagine being caught short and having to land a space shuttle while sitting in a pool of blood!

I don't think I'd expect someone to know how many someone else would need to take, so I don't thin it's that silly.

I mean it's very much dependant on the person. I use about a dozen max, but dsis, whose is far heavier and lasts far longer could use 70, and I suspect would think taking 100 as a precaution (don't know how being in space might effect you) was a sensible idea.

I think it's far better than them providing her with one and saying "you can't have more than one cycle while you're up there". That would be ignorant.

But if I'd been her, and only going for 14 days I would have made sure I took something to put it off until I came back anyway.

I taught my son. TBH I thought most parents did these days. He knows what they are, period products and more importantly how they impact affect girls. I didn't want him to be a jerk about them at school.

How stupid.

Presumably they know maths though. With 100 tampons she'd have to be changing it every 42 minutes.

Maybe they didn't know how the flow would be affected. If the travel and immense stress could cause a prolonged flow a heavier flow requiring more frequent changing.

As someone with Mehorraghia it can happen where you need 10's of pads and tampons on your heaviest days.
Those that can't relate. Must be nice.

Tbf I can relate a bit. I am like that my first couple of days but even then it's not quite every 42 minutes. And you have to sleep and stuff!

If you changed one every 42 minutes then that's around 4200 minutes of tampons, which is 70 hours, which is less than 3 days worth.

I hate maths.

Now I've worked it out at she would use a tampon every 86 minutes... which isn't as bad. Still you wouldn't be getting much sleep.

This song is such an ear worm for me. I catch myself singing it at work occasionally .

Not to try and excuse them but tampons are also banging for nosebleeds and I’m sure a whole host of other things so they’re adaptable

We are talking about an astronaut in zero gravity today. What is going to happen when she removes the cup and all the blood and tissue floats out of it? The space station will look like a movie set of a massacre

😂😂😂😂
I can't stop laughing at this!

When I had horrendously heavy periods I had to get up 4 or 5 times a night to change all my sanpro (ultra tampon plus 2 maternity pads) or I bled through to the mattress. I slept on 2 towels as well. I often went through 12 tampons in 24 hours, and my periods were heavy for the first 4 or 5 days then a bit lighter for the next 3 or 4 days.

So what if they asked if 100 tampons was enough? If they hadn't had enough then it would also be wrong amd pretty unforgivable so of course they check. I wouldn't trust anyone to make a judgement on how many tampons I'd need in any situation.

The sad thing is that the head of science at NASA is a female from Britain who was on desert island discs recently

I don’t think it’s that outrageous. At least they considered it. Some women have periods lasting ten days, some have really heavy flow, she’s in space…

I’ve had times where I bet I’ve been close to using that amount in that timeframe. Endometriosis and adenomyosis. Menstrual cups are crap for me. It’s better they overestimate than underestimate and ask.🤷🏻‍♀️