Photo by Maia Weinstock via Huffington Post In 1978, NASA made history when they selected their first class of female astronauts. Among them, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly into space in 1983. Ever since, they’ve pioneered the movement towards gender equality in the workforce, garnering 71 female astronauts in their history of space exploration. In a time when women in STEM fields were extremely rare — and almost non-existent —many of NASA’s missions were spearheaded by women. Ride, now says “people don’t even notice there are women going up on Space Shuttle flights anymore. It’s happening all the time.” But despite the in-depth work women have done for NASA — from those that have flown in space to the cosmonauts, analysts, researchers and engineers that work behind the scenes — they don’t get the credit they deserve. While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have much deserved fame for their treks to space, their female counterparts aren’t household names.
So Maia Weinstock, deputy editor of MIT News and a Lego fanatic, stepped in and proposed a new Lego set. By creating figurines inspired by the most prominent female NASA astronauts, Weinstock hopes to encourage a belated appreciation for the work they’ve done. Acclaimed NASA scientist, Margaret Hamilton, is most famous for her work during the Apollo 11 Mission to the Moon. By coding a system software that included error detections and recovery mechanisms, her team was able to prevent an abort of the Moon landing. Just recently, a photo of Hamilton alongside her massive books of code spread across the internet, revealing her huge part in the iconic 1969 mission. Now, a figurine of Hamilton is included in Lego’s new NASA set, replicating the viral photo. Photo by Maia Weinstock via Huffington Post The Lego set also includes four other NASA pioneers: Katherine Johnson, Nancy Grace Roman, Mae Jemison and Sally Ride. A mathematician on the Mercury and Apollo programs, Johnson’s work is said to have been “critical to the success of the moon landing.”
Roman, also known as the “Mother of Hubble”, was part of the Hubble Space Telescope invention, and Jemison became the first Black woman to fly into space in 1992. Weinstock isn’t the only one proposing innovative ideas to Lego. Their site, Lego Ideas encourages users to come up with their own ideas for sets. Other proposals have similar feminist roots, such as a female lab scientist, an Amelia Earhart mini-figure, and a Girls in STEM set. If a proposal gains enough supporters on the site, they are then mass-produced for sale. So show your support for Weinstock’s proposal here and you may be able to see mini Hamiltons, Jeminsons, Rides, Johnsons, and Romans in an aisle of your local department store. [Editor's note: This headline has been adjusted to more accurately reflect the story.] This entry was posted in The Main Agenda and tagged Lego, Lego Ideas, NASA, women in NASA, women in STEM. It could be the biggest bargain on the property market: a two-storey house that’s being given away for nothing.
The only drawback is that this des res is made entirely out of Lego – and you’ll have to find somewhere to put it.Top Gear presenter James May has just built the world’s first full-size Lego house – including a working toilet, hot shower and a very uncomfortable bed – using 3.3million plastic bricks. Toy storeys: James May and 1,000 helpers built the 20ft-tall Lego house on a wine estate in Surrey Stripe me: A close up of the fully functional house, which was built using 3.3million differently coloured bricks About 1,000 volunteers built the 20ft-tall house in Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey – but now the vineyard needs the land back toIf no one collects it by 8am on Tuesday, it will be hacked to bits with chainsaws. May says Legoland reneged on a deal to take it to their theme park in Windsor, Berkshire, after deciding it would be too expensive to move. Meanwhile, miffed Legoland managers criticised May for building the house without their help.
May said: ‘I’m very unhappy about it. I feel as if I’m having my arm twisted into saying “knock it down”. Blocked sink: The bathroom with a working taps and basin made from Lego Cosy: James in the bedroom - and you'll never guess what he made the bed, pillows and slippers from! Purrfect: The home even comes with its own cat ‘Legoland only told us on Thursday they were not going to take it. Block head: The TV presenter built the house for his forthcoming BBC show, James May Toy Stories 'Knocking it down is just wrong on every level. really lovely thing – it would break the hearts of the 1,000 people who worked like dogs to build it.’ May believes that an art gallery, a children’s home or a wealthy private collector might be interested in the house. entrepreneurs hoping to make money from it would face legal problems as Legoland has an exclusive licence to use the plastic bricks as a public Lego has also banned May from dismantling the structure and giving away
the bricks, which the company donated for his forthcoming BBC show James May’s Toy Stories. ‘It would dilute Lego’s sales – we can only give them to charity,’ May said. May slept in the house on Friday night, on ‘the most uncomfortable bed I’ve ever slept in’ – when he also discovered the house was not waterproof. Martin Williams, marketing director of Legoland Windsor, said: ‘We’re disappointed we were not consulted as our model-makers could have advised on building a movable structure. ‘In our opinion, the only way to move the Lego house now is to cut into it, which would compromise the structural integrity and present us with Plastic fantastic: James in the multi-coloured hallway Building blocks: James even used Lego to make kitchen utensils, including a toaster, whisk, bread bin and iron Daily Block: The home, which is unwanted by Legoland, also includes reading material 'We considered all the options but due to