Orange growers sour on Tang moon shot
When Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969, so did Tang. Arguably, no other product was more closely associated with America’s space program than the orange-flavored breakfast drink mix.
After first being taken into space by John Glenn in 1962, Tang saw its popularity soar like a Saturn V. In countless TV commercials and print advertisements in the 1960s and ’70s, Tang touted its ties to the space program — which were solely unofficial – while promoting that it had “more vitamin C and A than Mother Nature puts in orange juice.”
The space-themed ads were popular with moms and kids but irked Florida
orange growers worried about losing juice sales to Tang. Over the years, the Florida Citrus Commission would file numerous complaints with the Federal Trade Commission about its “synthetic” drink competitor.
Florida Gov. Claude Kirk became so angry with Tang ads hurting OJ sales that he told state agencies in 1971 to ban any purchases from Tang owner General Foods. “Why doesn’t Tang attack milk?” Kirk grumbled.
Tang and Florida citrus did have one thing in common: They were both around before the start of America’s manned space program.
Tang was first introduced in 1958, the creation of William A. Mitchell. According to his 2004 obituary by the Associated Press, Mitchell “worked as a chemist for General Foods Corp. in White Plains, N.Y., for 35 years until his retirement in 1976, held over 70 patents including inventions related to Cool Whip, quick-set Jell-O gelatin and the drink mix Tang.” Mitchell, who died at age 92 in Stockton, Calif., also invented Pop Rocks.
Tang’s sales were stuck on the launch pad for its first few years. Then Glenn became the first American in orbit – and the first to need a refreshment in space – and the public became fascinated with Tang.
As Discover magazine reported in 2017, “Sales remained poor until 1962 when the world watched John Glenn drink ‘orange drink’ out of a pouch. … NASA saw this ready-todrink travel beverage and realized that’s how it ought to be packaging drinks for astronauts so it bought something conveniently commercially available. Suddenly Tang was the space-age treat moms could bring home for their kids, and sales skyrocketed.”
NASA allowed Tang to promote its space connection in advertisements, but it did have limits.
“We did stop one radio commercial,” a NASA spokesman told the Orlando Sentinel in 1966. “It involved broadcasting a Gemini-Titan countdown which was halted, moments before liftoff. The commercial said the ‘hold’ was because someone forgot to load Tang aboard the spacecraft.”
Why was NASA using Tang anyway? It was the best solution to a tough space-food problem.
In that 1966 Sentinel story, a NASA spokesman explained that all foods approved for space flight had to be able “to withstand 130-degree temperatures for four hours and 100 degrees for two weeks.” Not to mention they couldn’t have crumbs or other items that could float in zero gravity.
The powered Tang stayed in a pouch that was injected with water by astronauts, then mixed and sipped through a special straw. It met NASA’s requirements and worked.
What didn’t work in space was Florida orange juice. NASA found that out the hard way in March 1965 on Gemini III with astronauts Gus Grissom and, ironically, Orlando’s John Young.
“We tried OJ, grapefruit and grape crystals,” Dr. Paul LaChance of NASA’s Crew Systems and Space Medicine Branch told the Sentinel in ’66. “But when astronauts in Gemini III added water to make is soluble, it turned into candy and they had to chew it.”
Tang remained on the space menu for astronauts for years to come, but was it never labeled as such.
“We never put on the package ‘Tang.’ What’s on the package may say ‘orange drink’ or ‘peach mango drink,’ but it won’t say ‘Tang,’ ” Dr. Michele Perchonok, NASA’s manager of the Space Food Systems Laboratory, told Space.com in 2006 story.
Which may be why Neil Armstrong reportedly claimed to businessman and venture capitalist Steve Juvetson that Tang was a farce and “we did not use it on the Apollo missions.”
But NASA records for Apollo 11 show Armstrong’s food menu included “Orange Drink,” “Grape Drink,” “Grapefruit Drink” and variations with pineapple. And when Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were walking on the moon, ABC News’ Frank Reynolds and Jules Bergman were sitting behind an anchor desk emblazoned with the logo for Tang, which sponsored the network’s moon-landing coverage.
There was no escaping the popular drink.
Nearly 50 years later, Tang’s sales in the U.S. have dropped. Overseas, however, the drink mix has taken off.
Mondelez International, the company spun off from Kraft Foods and now owns Tang, said the drink mix is sold in 85 countries, with Brazil, Argentina, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Mexico being its biggest markets. Flavors now include Tamarind, Lemon Pepper, Honey Lemon, Mango, Pineapple and Peach, to name a few.
“Orange flavor tops the sales charts worldwide, but local flavors make up 25 percent of Tang sales in emerging markets,” Mondelez touts on its Tang fact sheet.
As for good, old Florida orange juice – it finally made it to the moon, too. After its first mission was aborted on Apollo 13, citrus growers were happy to say “the OJ has landed” with Apollo 14.
“On the last two moon flights, natural orange juice crystals developed at the Winter Haven U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory have been aboard,” the Sentinel reported in 1971. “Astronauts told Dr. Robert Berry, USDA scientist, they prefer the orange juice crystals.”
And Florida orange growers finally had a reason to look into space and smile instead of scowl.