Lego Honors Five Female Scientists With NASA Figures

Lego is honoring five female scientists from the U.S. Space Program in their latest set.

LEGO CREATING “WOMEN OF NASA” SET

The “Women of NASA” set was designed by Maia Weinstock with the headline, “Ladies rock outer space!” It was commissioned by the Lego Ideas series, which allows fans to offer suggestions for new sets.

The set features Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, Nancy Grace Roman, the so-called “mother” of the Hubble Space Telescope, Mae Jemison, the first black American woman in space, plus Margaret Hamilton and Katherine Johnson, who helped put the first people on the moon from the ground.

The set, in addition to honoring the legacies of these women, “provides an educational building experience to help young ones and adults alike learn about the history of women” in science and tech.

This is a good step for Lego, as they have previously faced criticism for not featuring women in professional roles in their sets. In 2014, 7-year-old Charlotte Benjamin wrote a letter to the company pointing this out. “All the girls did was sit at home, go to bed and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people,” she wrote.

Lego stepped up by releasing a limited edition “Research Institute” set featuring three female scientists, including a paleontologist, astronomer, and chemist. The set was designed by geophysicist Ellen Koojiman.

The “Women of NASA” set is looking at a release date in 2018, and it is unclear if it will be a limited edition set or not.