HONG KONG — Five women scientists will receive the rare honor of being immortalized as inch-tall plastic figures with claws for hands. Lego announced Tuesday that a new set will feature some of the pioneering women who played vital but sometimes under-appreciated roles in the U.S. space program. The figures have been commissioned under the toy maker’s Lego Ideas series that allows fans to propose concepts for new sets. The “Women of NASA” set was designed by science writer Maia Weinstock, the deputy editor of MIT News, and pitched with the headline “Ladies rock outer space!” Among Weinstock’s figures are Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Nancy Grace Roman, who’s known as the “mother” of the Hubble Space Telescope; and Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. Also included are Margaret Hamilton and Katherine Johnson, whose work helped put the first people on the moon. Weinstock said the set celebrates the NASA scientists’ careers and “provides an educational building experience to help young ones and adults alike learn about the history of women” in science and technology.
Lego has been criticized in the past for a lack of professional female characters, most famously in a letter from a 7-year-old fan in 2014. “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,” Charlotte Benjamin wrote. In response, Lego released a limited edition “Research Institute” set designed by geophysicist Ellen Kooijman that featured three female scientists — a paleontologist, an astronomer, and a chemist. Lego said it’s still figuring out the final design and price for the “Women of NASA” set. It’s planning to release it late this year or early in 2018. But it’s not clear if it will be a limited edition set like the “Research Institute.”The best new minifigures of 2017 are female NASA heroes. On Tuesday (Feb. 28), Lego announced it would soon release a set of minifigures of five pioneering female scientists whose contribution to NASA has largely been underappreciated.
It includes NASA mathematician and space scientist Katherine Johnson, 98, who is best known for calculating and verifying trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo programs and was recently celebrated in the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. The idea was proposed by Maia Weinstock, a science writer and deputy editor at MIT News, through the Lego Ideas program that solicits fun suggestions for new toy figures. Weinstock’s idea received 10,000 votes of support on the site, beating out out 11 other entrants including a Star Wars Landspeeder. Lego is working on the final design and pricing for the Women of NASA set, and said the official release date would be announced in late 2017 or early 2018. The new Lego figures could be a novel way to give young girls role models in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, which have traditionally not attracted or retained young women. Women are less likely than men to study STEM subjects in college and graduate school, and only 26% of the women who do get degrees in STEM fields work in STEM careers.
On Tuesday, US president Donald Trump signed two bills aimed at encouraging women to build careers in STEM fields, posing with the sponsors of the bill along with his daughter Ivanka, who has been pushing for her father to support women in the workplace. One, the Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act, directs NASA to encourage women and girls to study in STEM fields and pursue careers in aerospace. The bill gives NASA three months to submit a plan to Congress for how the agency can extend its outreach to K-12 female STEM students, specifically through current and retired astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators. The other new bill, the Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act, authorizes the National Science Foundation to “encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world.” While the bills have been criticized as being vague and largely symbolic, they are a step in the right direction.
Lego has been pretty ahead of the curve when it comes to providing young children the opportunity to see themselves as anything they want, no matter their gender: a 1974 pamphlet from Lego reads, “The urge to create is equally strong in all child. It’s imagination that counts…A lot of boys like dollhouses, they’re more human than spaceships. A lot of girls prefer spaceships. They’re more exciting than dollhouses.”Excited to see LEGO celebrating the accomplishments of women in space & aeronautics professions with @LegoNASAWomen. — Cecilia W.S. Leung (@CelestialCess) February 28, 2017Children (girls & boys) need to see that a women's place is wherever the hell she chooses it to be. — mildly facetious (@cadmus_photo) February 28, 2017 From hidden figures to Lego figures, love that @LegoNASAWomen will soon be inspiring little girls everywhere. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) February 28, 2017 Turn the wheel to reveal the pop-up shooters and fire at the Crust Smasher.
Includes 3 minifigures: Macy Halbert, a Macy Bot and a Crust Smasher. Macy's Thunder Mace features 2 cockpits for Macy and the Macy Bot More product information 2 Buy on Tesco Direct from: Earn 17 Clubcard points Delivery options will be shown at checkout (or enable JavaScript to show on this page). We've carefully chosen all our Tesco Partners, to give you even more choice when you shop with us online. Browse a wider range of specialist products, all in one place Collect Clubcard points on every order Stay protected with the Tesco Partner Guarantee – we’re here to support you when buying from an approved Tesco Partner. Twist the handle at the back of Macy's Thunder Mace to pop up the 2 rapid-fire stud shooters. Fire at the Crust Smasher or remove Macy and the Macy Bot from the vehicle and role-play battle scenes using the Photon Mace and 3 swords. Includes 3 minifigures and a scannable shield. Back to top 1GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
NEW TOPICS & COVERAGE You have read of premium articles. Get unlimited access to all of our breaking news, in-depth coverage and interactive features. Starting at just 99c for 8 weeks. Your source for Clark and Champaign counties’ hometown news. All readers have free access to a limited number of stories every month. If you are a News-Sun subscriber, please take a moment to login for unlimited access. Beatles, 'Yellow Submarine' immortalized in new Lego set Posted: 10:29 a.m. Thursday, October 13, 2016 You may not be able to "live in a Yellow Submarine," but starting next month, you'll be able to build one thanks to Lego.The brick building toy, with the help of Lego and Beatles fans around the world, will introduce a Lego of the Fab Four's Yellow Submarine. The kit comes complete with John, Paul, George and Ringo minifigures. >> Read more trending stories Kevin Szeto submitted the plans on the Lego Ideas site. Szeto described himself as an amateur musician and songwriter who has always loved The Beatles, according to Lego.