Lego has just announced the next fan-designed set it’s officially putting into production, and it’s pretty, pretty good: a Women of NASA collection. I can say that I’m jazzed the toy company is celebrating women who have made history and defined the US space program.
The idea is the brainchild of Maia Weinstock, whose idea met the requisite 10,000 supporters needed for the company to consider it. The set will include five minifigures, a desktop frame for displaying the minifigures, and various NASA-themed “mini vignettes.” The set will not only help educate kids (and adults) about the role that women have played in space exploration, but it will show girls that they can dream and aspire to be astronauts, scientists, and mathematicians.
It should hit shelves later this year, or in early 2018. Featured in Weinstock’s Women of Nasa collection are:
1. Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist from MIT, who helped the create the flight software for the Apollo Moon missions.
2. Katherine Johnson, one of the main characters who inspired Hidden Figures, a mathematician who helped do calculations for the Mercury and Apollo programs.
3. Sally Ride, an astronaut who was the first American woman to go to space in 1983.
4. Nancy Grace Roman, an astronomer and NASA executive who played helped plan the Hubble Space Telescope.
5. Mae Jemison an astronaut who was the first African-American woman in space in 1992.
Weinstock, who is a science writer and editor, posted on Facebook about how exciting this is for her:
“Thank you to everyone who has supported and cheered for this celebration of all the women who have contributed to NASA History! Having LEGO make your vision available to kids (and grown-ups!) around the world is a dream come true — and you helped make it happen.”
