Earlier this year, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Helen Sharman's (Britain's first astronaut) mission to the Mir space station.

But one woman is going one step further (for womankind) to champion the 'ladies who rock outer space'.

Deputy editor of MIT News Mia Weinstock has taken to social media to propose a new LEGO set to celebrate the women of NASA.

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In her proposal, she writes: 'Women have played critical roles throughout the history of the U.S. space program, a.k.a. NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

'Yet in many cases, their contributions are unknown or under-appreciated — especially as women have historically struggled to gain acceptance in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM),' she added.

The LEGO-obsessed science writer has narrowed down her proposed list of LEGO ladies to the following:

  1. Margaret Hamilton, the computer scientist who developed software for the Apollo missions. 
  2. Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who helped calculate trajectories for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. 
  3. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space in 1983. 
  4. Nancy Grace Roman, an astronomer otherwise known as the "Mother of Hubble" for her work to make the Hubble Space Telescope a reality. 
  5. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space in 1992. 
    LEGO should turn Mae Jemison african american astronaut into a lego characterpinterest
    Getty Images

While reactions to Weinstock's proposal have varied in degrees of positivity on social media, one supportive Facebook user was keen to point out that since 1978, every LEGO astronaut mini figure has been male.

With more than 2,500 supporters (including NASA), Weinstock only needs 7,5000 more supporters to meet the required amount for the LEGO Review Board to consider making the women of NASA Lego figurines a reality.

Show your support here

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Katie O'Malley
Site Director

Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.