Ride, Sally Ride

[emeraldkity4]

For her birthday, Googles doodle of the day.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/26/8659275/sally-ride-google-doodle

She would have been 64.
She launched into space, the year after my oldest was born. The 1980’s was a great time to have girls, no teachers telling 6 yr olds they could only be nurses/secretaries/teachers/mommies.
Not that there is anything wrong with those careers, but what if you didn’t fit into that box?
Sally overcame discouraging comments, and was a great role model.

[emeraldkity4]

Men at NASA must not have wives, daughters or girlfriends.

In preparation for Ride’s trip aboard the Space Shuttle] 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.

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/26/8661537/sally-ride-tampons

[stugace]

Why wouldn’t it be? Isn’t that enough?

[emeraldkity4]

More like enough for ten women.

[Marian]

What’s sad is that there were obviously no female engineers who could easily have answered the question.