Lego set celebrates some of the amazing women of NASA
A Lego set honoring the “Women of NASA” is ready for takeoff.
The toy company confirmed Wednesday its latest set paying tribute to key women in NASA history will launch Nov. 1.
Lego had said it would build the set in March, after science editor and writer Maia Weinstock pitched the idea through the Lego Ideas initiative, where the company fields ideas on future toy sets.
“In all realms of science, engineering and technology, pioneering women have historically been underappreciated for their often groundbreaking work,” Weinstock said in a statement. “We have also seen that when girls and women are given more encouragement in the STEM fields, they become more likely to pursue careers in these areas.”
The set includes Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space; Nancy Grace Roman, known as the “mother of Hubble” telescope; and Margaret Hamilton, an engineer who wrote the guidance software for vessels including Apollo 11, the voyage that put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969. Katherine Johnson, a mathematician and scientist whose story is told in the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures, was originally slated to appear in the Lego set, too. But Lego said Johnson chose not to participate.
The 231-piece set will include all four women as figurines. It will also have a posable Hubble Space Telescope and launch pad with Space Shuttle Challenger, on which Ride first flew into space.