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Lego salutes legendary #WomenOfNasa

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The Lego Company runs a competition twice every year. The LegoIdeas initiative allows fans to submit their ideas which may end up going into production and being sold around the world!

This is exactly what happened with Maia Weinstock's proposal for the #WomenOfNasa project. This wasn't Weinstock's first submission to Lego and she told Space.com about how hard and long the process usually is. 

Weinstock's #WomenOfNasa's public vetting process went surprisingly quickly. She told Space.com that this initiative must have inspired many people because her project received the mandatory 10 000 public votes in a space of two weeks. She also says it's quite difficult to gather 10 000 votes from the public for a proposal submitted to the toy giant.

Regardless of the long waits and struggles, Weinstock powered through and her Lego set will go into production. In the near future, our little boys and girls (and maybe our bigger boys and girls) will be playing with the figurines and their respective work stations.

The set consists of five women - Margaret Hamilton, the late Sally Ride, Katherine Johnson, Mae Jemison and Nancy Grace Roman. All women played a special part in their respective fields of expertise.

Margaret Hamilton (80) is a computer scientist and systems engineer. She led the development of the software used during the Apollo Moon Missions. In 2016, Hamilton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former US President, Barack Obama, for the part she played during the Missions.

The late Sally Ride was an astronaut and physicist. She was also the first American woman in space and the third woman overall. She suffered from pancreatic cancer and died at the age of 61 in July 2012.

Katherine Johnson (98) is a physicist and mathematician. She is most known for her role of calculating courses for various missions. Before the computers we know of today, Katherine and her colleagues were dubbed computers - people who analysed data and performed computations using their brain. Katherine is also the leading focus of one of the latest films released on circuit - Hidden Figures

Mae Jemison (60) is an engineer, physician and astronaut. She was the first woman of colour in space. After leaving NASA she went on to fill lecturing positions at Dartmouth and Cornell Universities. She has nine honorary doctorates under her belt.

Nancy Grace Roman (91) is an astronomer and was the first to hold the position of Chief of Astronomy. Also known to many as "Mother of Hubble", she was given the title due to her involvement in leading the team setting up the Hubble Telescope programme.

Many people are excited about the women being immortalised in Lego form. Quite a number of people have shown their support on social media.

Mike Massimino, a retired astronaut and engineer who has also made a few appearances in popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, tweeted his sentiments.

Mae Jemison, who features in the new play set, also tweeted her excitement of being part of the big five.

We are yet to learn how much the sets will cost and when they will be available in South Africa. It's estimated that it will be on the shelves in America later in this year or early in 2018.

We can't wait for it to arrive and we can't wait to see the next set commemorating prominent women in society.

Also read: Mattell finally gets it right with this Barbie ad

Also read: Do girls need 'special' toys?

Do you think it's important for toys to have an educational value and history attached to it?
Share your thoughts about toys making a difference for the younger generation and how important you think it is by emailing chatback@parent24.com and we may publish your story. Should you wish to remain anonymous, please let us know.

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