Male NASA engineers once designed make-up kits for female astronauts. To use in space

By: Riya |
January 17, 2018 6:06 pm

Back in the 1978, NASA engineers assumed women astronauts would actually want to bring make-up into space and they (they being a group of predominantly male engineers) designed kits to send on missions. You can imagine the kind of conversation that must’ve happened on that table.

The NASA history office recently tweeted a quote by Sally Ride, a physicist who was the first American woman to go to space in 1983. Sally laughs at the fact that NASA created a make-up kit. While there’s nothing wrong with wearing make-up in space (apart from the logistics of applying it), what’s strange is that the NASA engineers thought their female astronauts would have make-up as priority.

Checkout the tweet:

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 pic.twitter.com/dNZ51cWELH

— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) January 16, 2018

Twitter was in splits about the whole thing:

*dying* _ Did they at least think to consult their wives for advice?

— Julia Quets (@JuliaQuets) January 16, 2018

You are joking, right?

— A photon in the dark (@vorodecky) January 16, 2018

pic.twitter.com/D1N3NOlzm1

— makin’ that hush money rain (@DJCPI) January 16, 2018

Only for on-camera days, I’m sure.

— Stephanie Heyens (@SpeakerPlain) January 16, 2018

Well, nothing to see in space. Might as well paint my nails.

— nick (@shigensis) January 16, 2018

Wow… mindblown_____ #seriously???

— Kat (@aandfphotos70) January 16, 2018

Gotta be camera ready in space, right?