Hidden heroines of space celebrated in Lego figures

LEGO sets have long celebrated superheroes like Batman and Superman. Now the Danish toymaker is honouring real-life heroes — five women pioneers for the US space agency Nasa.

The proposal for the set, submitted on Lego’s community and ideas page by MIT News editor Maia Weinstock, has been approved, beating out 11 other projects.

“Women have played critical roles throughout the history of the US space programme, also known as Nasa or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” Weinstock wrote in her proposal.

“Yet in many cases, their contributions are unknown or underappreciated — especially as women have historically struggled to gain acceptance in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”

Lego said it expected the new “Women of Nasa” set to be available by the end of the year or in early 2018.

“We’re really excited to be able to introduce Maia’s ‘Women of Nasa’ set for its inspirational value as well as build and play experience,” the company said in a blog post.

The five women included in the set are astronaut Sally Ride, who became the first US woman in space in 1983; astronaut Mae Jemison, who became the first African-American woman in space in 1992; astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, nicknamed the “Mother of Hubble” for her role in developing the landmark space telescope; computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, who developed the on-board flight software for the Apollo mission; and mathematician Katherine Johnson, one of three women portrayed in the recent movie Hidden Figures, for her key role in Nasa’s early space programme. —