‘Women of NASA’ Legos feature 4 inspiring pioneers, but missing famous ‘Hidden Figure’

Maia Weinstock’s vision to teach children and adults about some of the brightest minds of NASA with Lego has come to life and will hit stores this November.

Unfortunately, the idea didn’t go entirely as planned – one of the five female heroines in the MIT News editor’s original proposal won’t be featured.

Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who worked for NASA from 1953 to 1986 and was the lead inspiration for the the book and movie “Hidden Figures,” will not be featured in the “Women of NASA” set.

According to Gizmodo, Lego did not get approval from Johnson, who is now 99, to include her in the Lego set.

Weinstock said on Twitter that it “would have been fantastic” to include Johnson’s vignette, but her overall vision is “very much alive.”

VIDEO:Girls watch Hidden Figures movie

Weinstock tweeted on Wednesday that she’s extremely proud to know the final product will help children and adults learn about some of the pioneering scientists and engineers who helped make the U.S. space program what it is today.” She also tweeted that she hopes the set encourages more children to consider careers in STEM.

The 231-piece set will include special backdrops and props that will let you explore each woman’s groundbreaking work at NASA, according to a Lego press release, including:

• “Build your own telescope” with Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, who was best known for her work on the Hubble Space Telescope.
• “Develop software for space missions” with computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, who was director of the laboratory that developed flight software for the Apollo space program.
• “ Launch the space shutter” with astronauts Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Mae Jemison, the first woman of color in the world in space.

The set will hit stores Nov. 1 across the U.S. for $25, according to a Lego press release. Weinstock’s original proposal from July 2016 collected more than 10,000 votes in a Lego ideas contest.

When NASA originally announced that Weinstock’s “Women of NASA,” people on social media praised the idea.

This story was originally published October 18, 2017 at 10:27 AM with the headline "‘Women of NASA’ Legos feature 4 inspiring pioneers, but missing famous ‘Hidden Figure’."