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.

“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. She replied that, “No, that would not be the right number.”

“They said, ‘Well, we want to be safe,’” continued Ride. “I said, ‘Well, you can cut that in half with no problem at all.’”

NASA engineers apparently had a history of sending women to space with inadequate supplies. In that same interview, Ride noted that the engineers had also decided that women astronauts would want makeup. So, they designed a makeup kit.

“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.

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. These kits typically contain items like a toothbrush, lotion, deodorant, comb, and razor. 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.

The optional — and unused — makeup kit included eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, eye makeup remover, blusher, and lip gloss. It went on display in the Human Spaceflight at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, in 2002.

What a fascinating little piece of history! They even designed a makeup kit smh. Thanks for the rabbit hole!