Tang is short for tangy and also suggests the flavor of tangerine.

Following the introduction of instant coffee and powdered milk, General Foods decided to create a breakfast beverage from a powder that required no refrigeration, mixed with water into single servings, and provided the taste of real orange juice and all the same vitamins. Scientists at the Post Division of General Foods struggled to infuse the powder with stable, water-soluble forms of vitamin A, develop an orange coloring, and prevent the powder from caking in the jar.

In 1965, Tang accompanied the astronauts on the Gemini spaceflights and all United States spaceflights through to the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, helping Tang garner a reputation as a nutritionally balanced futuristic food.

On Saturday Night Live, Mrs. Loopner (Jane Curtin) and her daughter Lisa Loopner (Gilda Radner) drank Tang by the pitcher. Beldar Conehead (Dan Aykroyd) consumed mass quantities of the orange powder dry and straight from the jar.