Connect
To Top

NASA Shows Makeup Kit for its Female Astronauts From 1978!

NASA Shares a Bit of History — And it Has to Do with Makeup

NASA took to social media this week to reveal a makeup kit intended for its female astronauts from 1978. In it was an eyeliner, blush, mascara, makeup remover, and a lip gloss. This prototype makeup kit was designed by male engineers and was intended for female astronauts, but was never used.

Twitter was a burst of social media activity after NASA decided to share this picture.

Along with an image of the makeup kit, NASA wrote a quote from female astronaut Sally Ride which said, “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.”

Twitter users were shocked, stunned and confounded by this post. Tthe post has already gotten thousands of likes, comments, and re-tweets. Many are questioning the choice to take makeup into outer space when any cargo was expensive to carry. One user said, “It cost how much per ounce to send something up in the shuttle and they prioritized makeup?” Another stated, “Unthinkable to orbit the earth without makeup.”

Female astronaut Rhea Seddon was asked if she wanted to carry makeup on board. She responded on a blog post saying, “If there would be pictures taken of me from space, I didn’t want to fade into the background so I requested some basic items.
All agreed that a small kit with items of our choosing would be a “preference item,” that is, stowed only if requested.”

As of January 2016, NASA said that the latest string of astronauts was 50% female.
So, what do YOU think? Should makeup be a priority in outer space? Or it is unnecessary?

  • Save

More in Beauty

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap