LEGO immortalizes NASA women in brick form

LEGO is honoring some of the most important women in the history of NASA (and science) — by turning them into minifigs.

Thrilled to finally share: @LegoNASAWomen has passed the @LEGOIdeas Review and will soon be a real LEGO set! https://t.co/rcyjANsVD9 pic.twitter.com/b9OVx5UBaL

— Maia Weinstock (@20tauri) February 28, 2017

The set comes from an idea submitted by Maia Weinstock, deputy editor of MIT News. She proposed it on LEGO’s Ideas site, and her proposal garnered 10,000 supporters by last August. LEGO officially reviewed and approved it at the end of the year, and announced the set yesterday.

The five women are Katherine Johnson, mathematician who charted the trajectories of successful space flights; Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Margaret Hamilton, who made the software used in the Apollo mission; Mae Jemison, doctor and the first African-American woman in space; and Nancy Roman, the “Mother of the Hubble.”

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Weinstock says in her proposal that the set “celebrates five notable NASA pioneers and provides an educational building experience to help young ones and adults alike learn about the history of women in STEM.”

LEGO still has to finalize the design before the set can be sold. It says to expect information later this year or early next year.