It’s a fascinating story of how a product gained fame due to its association with space travel. Before Tang went to space, it wasn’t very well known or widely used. But once people heard that astronauts were drinking it, Tang’s popularity skyrocketed!
When you’re orbiting Earth at 17,000 miles per hour, an alternative to tasteless water. That’s likely what happened to astronaut John Glenn during his first orbit around the planet on February 20, 1962. Unfortunately, the water supplied by the onboard life support system wasn’t very appealing due to a non-toxic chemical reaction affecting its taste. Thankfully, Glenn had Tang.
For the past six decades, Tang—a sugary orange-flavored powder—has been a favorite among kids, astronauts, and even South Americans (more on that later). Contrary to popular belief, NASA didn’t invent Tang; it had already been available on grocery store shelves for several years before Glenn’s mission. However, NASA undeniably gave Tang its iconic status.
In 1957, food scientist William Mitchell from the General Foods Corporation created what he dubbed “Tang Flavor Crystals.” Despite being the company’s top food scientist, Mitchell never became a household name, although most households have something he invented. According to The Atlantic, upon his death in 2004, “most households you can name have something of his in it.” Mitchell was the innovative mind behind mid-century food creations like Tang, Pop Rocks, quick-set JELL-O, and Cool Whip. After two years of research and development, Tang hit grocery store shelves in the United States (as well as Venezuela and West Germany) in the fall of 1959. It was marketed as a breakfast drink packed with vitamin C that “you don’t squeeze, unfreeze, or refrigerate.” Unfortunately, this marketing approach did not make it sound particularly appealing, and as a result, it didn’t sell very well.
It is debated when scientists at NASA realized that Tang was a potential solution to NASA’s space food problem. Throughout World War II and into the mid-century, General Foods – along with many of the giant food corporations of time – was one of the US military’s main food suppliers. According to Space.com, it was around 1960 when someone at NASA realized the consumer-grade drink powder was exactly what the astronauts needed in space. So, the government made a deal with General Foods to buy the powder in bulk. However, the deal included a provision that it would not say “Tang” on the NASA packaging, but simply the flavor – “orange drink.” So, the product that went to space was identical to the one on Earth. However, the delivery method – from pouch to mouth – was altered following the physics of outer space.
Because of the whole no-gravity-in-space thing, pouring crystallized powder into a cup of water was going to be a problem. So, NASA engineers came up with a system that involved squirting water with a needle into a vacuum-sealed powder-containing pack. After shaking, all the astronaut had to do was stick a straw inside of the pouch of Tang and slurp away.
When Glenn was shot off into space, he was accompanied in his Friendship 7 capsule by an array of space-age food and drink choices. This wasn’t due to him needing provisions – after all, the mission was only about five hours long – but because NASA wanted to test how well, or even if, humans could eat and drink in a state of zero gravity. Now, Glenn wasn’t the first person to eat in space. That distinction belongs to Yuri Gagarin, who ate from tubes of pureed meat and chocolate sauce in 1961. But Glenn was the first American to accomplish the task when he swallowed tube-dispensed applesauce and sugar tablets dissolved in water. Now records are not entirely clear if Glenn ever used the Tang powder onboard the capsule during that first flight. However, as far as General Foods was concerned, it didn’t matter. Their orange-flavored powder went to space and that was a good enough of marketing gimmick for them.
When Glenn returned home safely (though, not without a little bit of stress), he was celebrated. So was Tang. General Foods began marketing the powder as a space-age drink. Tang accompanied astronauts to the nether regions for the next decade (through the Gemini and Apollo programs), and General Foods gushed proudly in print and tv ads that it was chosen by the Gemini astronauts because it was packed with vitamins, easy to make and tasted great. In 1968, Tang even sponsored ABC’s coverage of Apollo 8, America’s first manned flight around the moon. Needless to say, the advertising was effective. Tang sales shot through the roof and became one of the best-selling drinks of its day. John Glenn’s famous flight and Tang became synonymous, to the point that when the former astronaut ran for President in 1983 he was repeatedly asked if he really liked Tang. He ignored the question.
Years later, Tang no longer holds sway over the American public like it did decades ago. However, sales are still strong in South America, which helped make the orange drink into a billion dollar global brand. In 2013, Buzz Aldrin – the second man to walk on the moon – finally answered the question many were thinking: Did astronauts drink Tang while in space? He said yes, but they didn’t enjoy it. The never-subtle Aldrin exclaimed to anyone within earshot, “Tang sucks.”
