LEGO Women of NASA ~ It was exciting when LEGO launched the Women of NASA builds. There are three LEGO sets honoring four exceptional women scientists. They are sold together in one 231-piece set.
This collaboration between NASA and LEGO was anticipated and well-received. The NASA LEGO Women set was released November 1, 2017. It’s LEGO set 21312.
While there is no shortage of science and construction toys, it’s nice to see LEGO — a construction toy empire — represent these women of science. This is a great way to further enhance what’s great about LEGO.
Not only are they among the best STEM toys, they have taken it a step further by introducing history and science into households. Think of the conversations that will start with families who have this set. This is literally opening up an entirely new world of play.
LEGO NASA Women
These sets are called LEGO Ideas Women of NASA. The instructions are for three builds. Each pays tribute to some of the incredible NASA women scientists.
These women made history in math, science, engineering and space travel.
What’s fantastic is that LEGO put all of them in one set, so kids can enjoy learning about each NASA scientist and don’t have to buy each kit separately.
They’ve also kept the set small, not adding additional pieces. The entire set of the four women NASA scientists is 231 pieces. Some may view this as a negative. They could have added more pieces to enhance the set.
However, by keeping it small, the positive thing is this kept the price lower. When they released this set and you could find it in stores, it was typically $30. This made it more affordable for everyone to have the LEGO women science set without paying for the additional pieces.
LEGO Women of NASA
There are four minifigures in this set. The women scientists featured are:
- Sally Ride
- Mae Jemison
- Nancy Grace Roman
- Margaret Hamilton
Women of NASA LEGO scientists
Sally Ride LEGO
In the LEGO set that features Sally Ride, she is with Mae Jemison.
NASA choose her as an astronaut for NASA Astronaut Group 8 in 1978. It was a group of 35 astronauts. It was the first class to admit women.
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, but this isn’t the only way she was revolutionary. At just 32 years of age, she was also the youngest American astronaut to travel in space, a record that still stands today.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and Physics from Stanford University as well as a Master’s degree and PhD in Physics from Stanford University.
Her gender made her a controversial pick for NASA’s Challenger task force. As a result, she dealt with countless questions and comments that no doubt prompted some eye rolls. These included suggestions that the flight would affect her reproductive organs and that she would cry if things went wrong. In her response, she pointed out that the other astronauts weren’t asked these questions.
According to Sally’s mother, there were a lot of people waiting for her to fail. However, Sally rose to every challenge.
After working with NASA, she went on to become a physics professor. Later, she founded her own non-profit organization to promote science, engineering, math and STEM education to young people in the USA. It’s called the Sally Ride Science organization.
Mae Jemison LEGO
Dr. Mae Jemison was the first black woman to travel in space, and is a hugely inspirational figure.
Her character in the LEGO set has the same famous orange space suit she wore. She is featured in this set with Sally Ride.
In 1992, she boarded the Space Shuttle Endeavor and made history. She was the Mission Specialist. She became an icon and role model for young girls everywhere.
In addition to being an astronaut, she was an engineer as well as a physician. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and African and African American studies. From there, she completed her medical degree from Cornell University.
Mae Jemison earned numerous honors and awards throughout her career. This includes a seat in the International Space Hall of Fame.
She started out in the Peace Corps. After her success with NASA, she pursued her interests in technology and social science. Then, she founded a technology research company and later a not-for-profit educational foundation.
Jemison has worked tirelessly to inspire young people to take up science and technology, with a particular focus on minorities. She has written children’s books and was on television, including in an episode of Star Trek.
Through this LEGO set, Mae Jemison can continue to inspire a new generation.
Nancy Grace Roman LEGO
Another extraordinary NASA woman scientist LEGO chose was Nancy Grace Roman. She was NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy, and the first woman to hold an executive position at NASA.
She is featured in a LEGO set on her own with a small LEGO Hubble Space Telescope.
Her role involved overseeing the planning and development of the Hubble Space Telescope. For that, people consider her the ‘Mother of Hubble.’
Various organizations have recognized Nancy’s work. In 1962, she won a Federal Women’s Award. Life magazine named her one of the most important young people. In 1969, NASA awarded her the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.
Currently in 2020, NASA is developing a next-generation telescope for space using wide field infrared survey. This telescope (WFIRST) is named to honor Nancy Grace Roman’s contributions in astrophysics.
NASA calls it the Roman Space Telescope for short. It’s official name is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Nancy Roman was a pioneer in creating space telescopes which focused on the universe. She was NASA’s first chief astronomer.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree in 1946 in Astronomy from Swarthmore College and graduate studies, including a PhD from the University of Chicago.
Nancy Grace Roman had a passion to encourage young women to pursue careers in science and engineering. This LEGO set brings Nancy Grace Roman’s achievements to light and highlights her legacy.
Margaret Hamilton LEGO
Margaret Hamilton was the lead software designer for Apollo 11. It was partly due to her work to develop and test the Apollo software that the mission was successful. If it hadn’t been for her work, the moon landing would have aborted.
Just three minutes before the Lunar Lander reached the moon, the computer overloaded. It triggered several alarms. The software she helped to develop was able to recognize the problem and go into recovery mode. The moon landing was successful.
Hamilton earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
NASA also gave her a special award, including the largest financial award they’d ever given to an individual. Margaret was a coding pioneer and the first person to coin the term ‘software.’
She is a systems engineer, computer scientist, and later, a business owner. She studied at University of Michigan and Earlham College, earning a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and a minor in Philosophy. At MIT, she worked on software to predict weather among many other accomplishments.
The most astonishing photo taken of her shows her next to books full of pages of code that she’d written, stacked up as tall as her. This is what the LEGO set with Margaret Hamilton features: She stands next to her volumes of coding.
Women Scientists NASA LEGO
Surprisingly, Katherine Johnson is not part of this LEGO set. Katherine Johnson’s incredible mind was integral to some of NASA’s biggest missions.
A genius mathematician, she was able to calculate trajectories and launch windows for space shuttles. Can you imagine if the Apollo 11 flight to the moon had never taken place? Without her, it might not have.
Katherine Jonson has received a long list of awards and honors for her astonishing work.
However, by far the most prestigious award she received is the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she received in 2015. In 2016, she was featured in Hidden Figures. This film told the previously little-known story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians.
The film’s release was a great step in putting NASA’s previously unsung heroines into the spotlight. We hope LEGO continues making NASA women scientists sets and includes Katherine Johnson.
LEGO NASA sets
This set is a welcome extension to some previous LEGO sets, which included female scientist figures.
Those sets featured female LEGO characters in a STEM career, instead of the usual shopping, hair salon, or pet store scene. These LEGO female mini-figures included a chemist, an astronomer, an inventor and a paleontologist.
What great role models! They were wonderful sets. However, LEGO made them limited edition sets. They sold out quickly.
As parents seek positive role models for their children, we were happy with LEGO’s effort to represent female NASA role models.
LEGO science sets
These LEGO science sets feature revolutionary women leaders from NASA. They give kids a chance to enjoy engineering toys in a new way. In addition, they encourage discussion about women scientists in history.
We hope LEGO will feature more scientists in sets, women and men. Whether it’s about NASA scientists or others, it makes learning about science more tangible for kids.
It also gives parents a way to further the discussion into history as well as discuss current NASA projects, astronomy, weather, physics, engineering, construction, and more.
LEGO has a few sets that focus on space, some include female mini-figures as well. We hope they will feature architects, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, and more.
The LEGO Ideas Women of NASA set is amazing. It’s no longer in stores. You can find the women of NASA LEGO set on ebay and other auction sites.
FAQ’s about Women of LEGO NASA set
There are many questions about this set because you can’t find it in stores.
What is kit number for NASA women set?
The LEGO Women of NASA kit number is 21312.
How to buy Women of NASA LEGO?
LEGO released this set in 2017. You can no longer find it in stores. You can find it online. Many people sell it on ebay. You may find it brand new or used, with or without the box.
Depending on when you search ebay and other auction sites, you may find LEGO NASA new in box (NIB) and never removed from box (NRFB).
How much does the new LEGO Women of NASA cost?
When this set was released, it was $29.95.
This is in line with how LEGO used to be with pricing for non-copyrighted sets. Generally, they used to be 10 cents a piece. This mean if the LEGO set had 200 pieces, it would be $20.
However, when they started adding commercial sets based on movies and characters, the price increased.
For this NASA science set, LEGO included 231 pieces. That translates to $23.10.
This is very inline with pricing, especially for the four minifigures and most every piece being significant.
When is LEGO Women of NASA being released?
LEGO Women of NASA was released November 1st in 2017.
Women of NASA LEGO set
LEGO creates great developmental toys, helping to boost fine motor skills, imagination and creativity. Now they will be help children to learn about STEM careers too. Sets featuring scientists will get kids thinking about LEGO and science in new ways.
Being such great engineering and STEM toys, you can add more LEGO bricks to this set to make it your own. Like most construction toys, the more bricks you have, the more possibilities for imagination.
If you are at all considering it, find and buy this Women of NASA LEGO Ideas set. It features women NASA heroes and will spark new topics and conversations.
Kids can accomplish anything… LEGO shows them this through these sets featuring scientists.
