Women of NASA Get LEGO-sized Tribute | Popular Science | Stannous Flouride's Book of Truthiness

You can probably name a handful of astronauts and astrophysicists, most of them male. Throughout grade school, their names are repeated in history books: Buzz, Neil, Gus… what about the women who set many of these missions into motion?

The five Women of NASA that were submitted to LEGO Ideas are:

Margaret Hamilton, computer scientist: While working at MIT under contract with NASA in the 1960s, Hamilton developed the on-board flight software for the Apollo missions to the moon. She is known for popularizing the modern concept of software.

Katherine Johnson, mathematician and space scientist: A longtime NASA researcher, Johnson is best known for calculating and verifying trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo programs — including the Apollo 11 mission that first landed humans on the moon.

Sally Ride, astronaut, physicist, and educator: A physicist by training, Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983. After retiring as a NASA astronaut, she founded an educational company focusing on encouraging children — especially girls — to pursue the sciences.

Nancy Grace Roman, astronomer: One of the first female executives at NASA, Roman is known to many as the “Mother of Hubble” for her role in planning the Hubble Space Telescope. She also developed NASA’s astronomy research program.

Mae Jemison, astronaut, physician, and entrepreneur: Trained as a medical doctor, Jemison became the first African-American woman in space in 1992. After retiring from NASA, Jemison established a company that develops new technologies and encourages students in the sciences.

In addition to a desktop frame that displays these five minifigures and their names, the set includes vignettes depicting: a famous photo of the reams of code that landed astronauts on the moon in 1969; instruments used to calculate and verify trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo missions; a microscale Hubble Space Telescope and display; and a mini space shuttle, complete with external tank and solid rocket boosters.

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Sally Ride, astronaut and first American woman in space & Mae Jemison, medical doctor and the first African-American woman in space

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Sally Ride, astronaut and first American woman in space & Mae Jemison, medical doctor and the first African-American woman in space

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Margaret Hamilton, the computer scientist who developed on-board flight software for the Apollo missions

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Margaret Hamilton, the computer scientist who developed on-board flight software for the Apollo missions

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Katherine Johnson, mathematician who calculated trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo programs (ON PAPER WITH A SLIDE RULE!)

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Katherine Johnson, mathematician who calculated trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo programs (ON PAPER WITH A SLIDE RULE!)

Nancy Grace Roman, the “Mother of Hubble” and one of the first female executives at NASA

The set includes a tiny Hubble Space Telescope and Space Shuttle, as well as information on each of the women and their accomplishments, in hopes of inspiring future scientists to pursue their passions for space and technology. If the project gets 10,000 supporters, it qualifies to move to the official LEGO review round.

I just became the 6,385th supporter:

Source: Women of NASA Get LEGO-sized Tribute | Popular Science

And here’s a LEGO gallery:

The Qabah in Mecca

A mini-Qabah

The office of ESO’s Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, is already home to Frans Snik’s earlier model of the E-ELT. The first example of the new VLT model was presented to de Zeeuw to sit alongside its big brother. Frans Snik himself made the presentation via video link.

Frans Snik’s model of the VLT even includes the four lasers that are used to create artificial stars in the Earth’s atmosphere so that the adaptive optics system can remove the effects of atmospheric turbulence.

Frans Snik’s model of the VLT is set against a background photograph from the actual telescope site in Chile’s Atacama Desert, with the Milky Way rising majestically into the sky above.