One Giant Leap for Period Care: joni Goes to Space! 🚀

What happens when you combine bold curiosity, menstrual equity, and a trip to space? You get the Space MENs team — a group of inspiring student researchers who just made history with the first-ever tampon experiment in microgravity. 

At joni, we’ve always been about breaking barriers and making period care accessible for everyone, everywhere. But we recently realized "everywhere" shouldn't just mean on Earth.

When the Space MENs (Menstrual Experimentation in Novice Spaces) team approached us with a mission to study how periods work in microgravity, we knew we had to be part of it. 

With joni’s support, this incredible crew tested how period products behave in space, capturing their findings with GoPro cameras we helped fund. Our financial and product support helped them film never-before-seen footage of a joni tampon floating freely aboard the National Research Council’s Falcon 20 aircraft—a milestone moment for menstrual science.

“Without joni’s support, we might have had to give up entirely,” shared the Space MENs team. “You made it possible for us to capture our experiment in microgravity and share it with the world.”

Building a Team to Break Boundaries

The Space MENs project took shape through the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) program, a nationwide competition that invites students to propose and conduct microgravity experiments. Space MENs came together when nine engineering and computer science students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) | Okanagan joined forces to ask a question no one else was asking: how do menstruation and menstrual materials behave in space?

“The idea was sparked by hearing how NASA once asked Astronaut Sally Ride if she needed 100 tampons for her week in space,” they explained. “That story opened our eyes to how little research has been done on menstrual health in space—and why that matters.”

Why Study Periods in Microgravity?

Until now, there’s been no physics-based data on what actually happens when menstrual fluid interacts with absorbent materials in microgravity. That gap is more than just a scientific oversight—it reflects whose experiences have historically been seen as worth studying.

“It’s about more than just an experiment,” the team said. “It asks who space exploration is for, if not everyone?”

Capturing the Experiment in Action

During their parabolic flight, the researchers tested how a joni tampon absorbed a blood simulant in zero gravity. Because real blood wasn’t safe to use, they created a substitute that coagulates like the real thing. The results were eye-opening.

“In microgravity, absorption happens in all directions, not just top to bottom,” they explained. “The fibers wick fluid outward, upward, and all around. It completely redefines how absorbent materials behave when gravity isn’t part of the equation.”

The GoPros—funded by joni—captured mesmerizing footage of the experiment in action: droplets floating and dispersing, fibres drawing fluid evenly through the material, and a tampon freely drifting through the aircraft cabin.

“The energy in the Falcon 20 cockpit was electric,” they recalled. “Our ‘aha!’ moment came when droplets splattered against the sides of the experiment, exactly as we predicted—and we saw it all on the GoPro footage.”

What This Means for the Future

The findings could help create safer, smarter period care for astronauts—and offer insights into fluid containment that could transform future missions. It’s too soon to say whether NASA will stick with Earth-based products or engineer new ones, but the Space MENs team believes this is just the beginning.

“The important part is that these questions are now visible,” they said. “Engineers and mission specialists can finally start addressing them.”

From Earth to Orbit, and Back Again

For anyone using a joni tampon here on Earth, the biggest surprise might be how much we rely on gravity without realizing it.

“In zero-G, liquids don’t just move down—they flow in every direction,” the team explained. “It shows just how complex and resilient period care really is.”

A Shared Mission for Equity

At joni, we’re proud to have played a small part in this giant leap for menstrual equity—and for women in STEM. Supporting this project means helping more women and gender-diverse innovators take up space (literally and figuratively) in fields where their perspectives are essential.

By backing projects like Space MENs, we’re not just funding research—we’re fuelling a future where curiosity, equity, and innovation know no limits. The Space MENs team put it best:

“This project was meaningful because it filled a gap that had been overlooked for decades. We owe a huge thank-you to Joni for believing in us and helping make it possible.”

So, what’s next? Maybe the universe. But for now, we’ll celebrate the first tampon experiment in space—and the growing community of women in STEM who are redefining what it means to explore boldly and think beyond boundaries.