It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that kids are continually influenced by the things that they see, hear, and interact with. And all too often that can amount to some less-than-healthy lessons delivered through shows or games that don’t always have the best welfare of youngsters in mind.
But it just so happens that a group of rocket scientists (or at least scientists that enjoy riding in rockets) recently came up with a cool idea specifically aimed at giving kids something fun and positive to imaginatively interact with.
The European Space Agency linked its spacesuit-clad hands with toymaker Mattel to create an Astronaut Barbie. Then they took this Barbie doll version of real-life female astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti up into zero-gravity to celebrate Space Week, which ran from Oct. 4-10.
As part of the project, the ESA and Mattel are sharing educational resources for kids and parents and even putting together a Ph.D student scholarship program. And, of course, it’s all in the hope that young Barbie lovers will start dreaming of a job in space (or at least science, technology, engineering and mathematics) while they lift off with their new Barbie.
And here you thought Barbie had a tough time with math. Pshaw!
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