Two Barbie dolls dressed as astronauts have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since February as part of the DreamStar mission. The project seeks to encourage girls’ interest in topics such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as announced by Mattel this Thursday (14).
The dolls are part of a collaboration between Mattel and the lab US National Laboratory of the ISS. Lisa McKnight, executive vice president and global head of Barbie, said the doll has a long history with space exploration.
In 1965, before humanity even set foot on the moon, Mattel released an astronaut doll. “So the idea of Barbie going into space has been the first thing that has come to mind for quite some time now!” McKnight added.
Want to stay on top of the best tech news of the day? Access and subscribe to our new youtube channel, Canaltech News. Every day a summary of the main news from the tech world for you!
The dolls announce the launch of the Space Discovery line. In a promotional video called “You Can Be Anything”, the dolls are shown floating aboard the ISS with Earth in the background.
/i582982.jpeg?w=900&ssl=1)
In the same video, the dolls accompanied the astronaut by NASA Kayla Barron as she explained some of the studies conducted aboard the orbital lab, such as the Veggie plant growth facility and the Astrobee robots.
astronaut clothes
The outfit is inspired by the Russian Sokol suit, worn by the crew traveling to and from the ISS with the Russian ship Soyuz and has unique pink details. “We’re excited that kids will be able to play with Space Discovery dolls like those in orbit to make their playtime even more imaginative,” said McKnight.
/i582983.jpeg?w=900&ssl=1)
In 1965, when the first Barbie in an astronaut outfit was released, the “Barbie Miss Astronaut”, the outfit was inspired by the silver spacesuit worn by astronauts in the programa Mercury. 20 years later, the model won a version with a skirt and shiny tights.
Since 2019, Mattel has promoted the Inspiring Women series, in which some dolls were characterized according to the first American to go to space, Sally Rideand the Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
Mattel will send a Barbie looking like European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti into space when the astronaut take off on the Crew-4 mission later this month. The new Barbie line is already on sale at Target stores in the US.
When the two astronaut dolls return from the ISS between August and June, they will be shipped to the Smithsonian Institution, where they will be displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the National Air and Space Museum in northern Virginia.
Source: Collect SpaceVia Space.com
–
