Barbie sent a doll on a zero-gravity flight to inspire young girls to work in space and STEM

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Oct 4, 2021 at 09:32 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

On 11 October 2018, dubbed the International Day of the Girl Child, toy manufacturing giant Mattel debuted two Barbie dolls modelled after European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) to celebrate Barbie’s 60th anniversary, one of the dolls sported a stylised reproduction of NASA’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or spacewalking suit, while the other donned a blue flight suit with ESA patches.

Today, the former of the two has actually jetted off on a zero-gravity flight—with the aim of inspiring young girls to consider a career in space and science, technology, maths and engineering (STEM).

Barbie sent a doll on a zero-gravity flight to inspire young girls to work in space and STEM

Kicking off World Space Week 2021 with the theme ‘Women in Space’, Cristoforetti’s lookalike doll mirrored the preparation an astronaut needs to do before heading off to space, by travelling and floating on a zero-gravity flight from an ESA base in Germany. “The mini Samantha doll has already been on a parabolic flight, so she already has some experience with weightlessness,” 44 year-old Cristoforetti said in a video statement, as noted by Reuters.

Set to break new grounds as the first European female astronaut to command the International Space Station next year, Cristoforetti—affectionately known in her home country as ‘AstroSamantha’ or ‘AstroSam’—hopes the doll can inspire the next generation. “I think boys and girls, they get passionate about things because they see something intriguing and funny. So maybe those images will kindle a passion in some girls’ hearts and that will be incredible.”

This aim is also backed by a list of educational resources that spotlight different careers in the industry and teach primary school-aged children more about space. Rolling out across toy stores in the UK and Europe this year, proceeds from the sale of these dolls will be donated towards a PhD student bursary at the non-profit organisation Women In Aerospace (WIA).

Barbie sent a doll on a zero-gravity flight to inspire young girls to work in space and STEM

“With space and STEM careers still underrepresented by women, Barbie is using its platform this World Space Week to show girls exciting and diverse roles and activity in space to inspire them to explore their limitless potential,” said Isabel Ferrer, Barbie’s Marketing Director for Europe and Emerging Markets. In an interview with Sky News, Ferrer noted how the project isn’t just aimed at aspiring astronauts, but also focuses on potential engineers and space scientists like Doctor Nicol Caplin.

According to Caplin, who joined the ESA as a research fellow at the age of 28 and has noticed a lack of gender diversity in space and STEM careers, young girls seeing the doll could be extremely powerful. “I think it’s quite difficult to be what you can’t see and so to imagine yourself as a Barbie doll floating through space,” she said. “Maybe that could have some spark and could really inspire some girls to put on a space suit and to go into space themselves one day.”

However, Caplin also believes encouraging young people is mainly about choice. “It’s not so much about forcing girls into STEM. I think this is all about giving young girls the choice of knowing what they want to do in life and knowing what is open to them. It’s all what the child enjoys and if it happens to be science, I’m all for that and that should be encouraged. Maybe this toy could help that.”

So if you’re one of those Twitter users dubbing this move “a missed opportunity” to send a human female crew on-board, hear me out. Be it a music producer or an astronaut, these dolls have been created to highlight careers where women are often underrepresented. One of the ways to expose young, impressionable girls to such careers is through role-modelling—by showing them examples of women from diverse backgrounds and fields who are breaking boundaries.

And as Cristoforetti herself said back in 2019 with the drop of the collaboration, “I’m very happy that Barbie dolls nowadays reflect not only the body shape of real women, but also the full range of their professional achievements. I hope this will help girls and boys to imagine their future without being constrained by artificial limits that have no place in our time.”

Keep On Reading

By Alma Fabiani

Jonah Hill accused of sexual misconduct by former Zoey 101 star Alexa Nikolas

By Charlie Sawyer

Meet Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump 2.0 and the first millennial Republican presidential candidate

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian receives urgent surgery following a medical emergency

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

TikToker Victoria Paris slammed for comments about Paris bed bugs epidemic

By Mason Berlinka

Who is TikToker Nekoglai? The Moldovan streamer tortured by Russia paying tribute to Ukrainian soldiers

By Abby Amoakuh

Why is Swedish influencer Matilda Djerf being cancelled on TikTok right now?

By Charlie Sawyer

No, controversial comedian Matt Rife didn’t compare himself to Bin Laden

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Creepy video shows passenger freak out about being stuck in a time loop that ends with plane crash

By Abby Amoakuh

Beyoncé just dropped the trailer for the Renaissance World Tour concert film. Watch it here

By Charlie Sawyer

Who is Bobbi Althoff and why did she delete her viral podcast interview with Drake?

By Abby Amoakuh

Kevin Spacey receives standing ovation at Oxford University lecture on cancel culture

By Louis Shankar

What is a zillennial? Confessions and insights of a cusp generation baby

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

High-profile BBC presenter suspended over allegations of paying teen for explicit pictures

By Charlie Sawyer

Amy Schumer just called out Hilaria Baldwin on her fake Spanish accent

By Charlie Sawyer

New cancer-killing pill could completely eradicate tumours from patients’ bodies

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Hidden in the Philippine mountains, there’s a cult that preys on children’s fear of hell

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Let Ron be Ron: Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis makes shocking claims about slavery

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

A triangle of sadness: The 3 biggest issues facing UK universities at the moment

By Charlie Sawyer

Find out the spooky way Taylor Swift may have manifested Travis Kelce into her life

By Abby Amoakuh

Cocaine, goat blood and sex rituals: Jason Derulo accused of bizarre sexual harassment