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Lego celebrates the women of NASA with new minifigs

Lego celebrates the women of NASA with new minifigs

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Featuring Nancy Grace Roman, Margaret Hamilton, Sally Ride, and Mae Jemison

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Lego

Earlier this year, Lego announced that it would be making a set celebrating the women of NASA, based on a submission to the Lego Ideas site by Maia Weinstock, the deputy editor of MIT News. And today, Lego has finally taken the wraps off what the finished set will look like.

The set highlights the achievements of several of NASA’s most celebrated female scientists and astronauts, divided into three miniature dioramas:

  • Nancy Grace Roman, known as the "Mother of Hubble," who was a key figure in the creation of the Hubble Space Telescope, alongside a model of the famed telescope
  • Margaret Hamilton, who was the lead software designer for the Apollo 11 moon landing, in a recreation of the famed picture of her next to the Apollo navigational software
  • Sally Ride, who was the first American woman in space, and Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, accompanied by a miniature Space Shuttle

Weinstock’s proposed set also included famed NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, but in a statement to The Verge, the company said that “In order for us to move forward with a partner we need to obtain approval from all key people which was not possible in this case. We naturally fully respect this decision.”

This isn’t the first time Lego has put together a set celebrating female scientists and engineers. The company had previously released a set called “Research Institute” through the Lego Ideas program. That set was designed by geoscientist Dr. Ellen Kooijman and received praise for placing women in professional STEM roles, something that is still regrettably rare in most other Lego sets.

The set will cost $24.99 when it comes out on November 1st, and for those who like counting these sorts of things, includes 231 pieces.

Update, October 18th, 1:35pm: Added release date.