LEGO's Women Of NASA Ready For Liftoff Nov. 1
By Diamaris Martino
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A new LEGO set honoring the pioneering women of NASA, including Chicago native Mae Jemison, will go on sale Nov. 1.
The set will also include Sally Ride, Nancy Grace Roman and Margaret Hamilton, all key figures in the NASA program.
LEGO hopes the set hopes inspires more girls to go into STEM careers.
Maia Weinstock originally pitched the concept as part of a LEGO contest over a year ago.
"I wanted to spotlight a fantastic group of women who have made seminal contributions to NASA history," said Weinstock, deputy editor of "MIT News" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jemison, a graduate of Morgan Park High School, was the first woman of color to travel into space.
Sally Ride was the first woman in space. Their LEGO characters come with a launch pad and a model of the Challenger space shuttle, with three removable rocket stages.
Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman was a key figure in the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. Her LEGO figure comes with a model of the Hubble and an image of the planetary nebula.
Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton helped develop computer software for the Apollo and Mercury missions. Her character comes with stackable books, representing the books of the Apollo Guidance Computer onboard flight software source code.
LEGO Design Manager Tara Wike said in a statement: "What they (the women of NASA) have achieved is truly inspiring to me, and I hope it will inspire children to make their dreams come true."
The original concept set included Katherine Johnson. The mathematician who was a key figure in the first successful launching of an astronaut into space. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson in the Oscar-nominated film "Hidden Figures."
The original model by Weinstock included Johnson, but according to LEGO, Johnson chose not to be part of the set.
LEGO's Women of NASA set will will cost $24.99.
