The NASA History Office tweeted this week about a makeup kit conceived 40 years ago for their first class of female astronauts. Especially in the era of #MeToo, the idea that women wouldn’t want to go into space without a full face of makeup is decidedly dated. The tweet also included a quote from Sally Ride, the first American woman to go to space (in 1983): “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.” That is certainly quite a scene to imagine. And though those male engineers did manage to include some semi-useful items like mascara and blush, we do have to mention that we’re definitely not crazy about that 1970’s mustard yellow color. Yikes.
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
