Barbie Takes Zero-Gravity Flight to Encourage Ladies to Take Up Profession in Area

Astronomy fans are celebrating World Area Week from October 4 to October 10. To make this occasion memorable for younger ladies and encourage them to think about a profession in house analysis and STEM, the European Area Company (ESA) has put a particular Barbie doll — modelled after European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti — in zero-gravity at a base in Germany to arrange it for the setting earlier than heading off to house. The doll sported a white spacewalking swimsuit. This doll debuted on the Worldwide Day of the Lady Little one on October 11 in 2018. One other such doll that debuted alongside donned a blue flight swimsuit with ESA patches.

The doll in white spacewalking swimsuit was positioned in a zero-gravity flight on October 4, marking Barbie’s sixtieth anniversary. The purpose of the initiative is to encourage younger ladies to think about a profession in STEM — science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic. It’s backed by academic sources that define profession choices within the house trade and likewise make accessible research supplies for main college kids.

Proceeds from the gross sales of those two dolls throughout the toy shops within the UK and Europe will go in direction of the non-profit organisation Ladies In Aerospace (WIA) to assist college students of their larger research, acknowledged a report.

Samantha Cristoforetti is ready to develop into the primary European feminine astronaut to command the Worldwide Area Station subsequent yr. Popularly identified in her house nation Italy as “AstroSamantha” or “AstroSam,” she hopes the photographs of the doll flying in zero-gravity will “kindle a ardour in some ladies’ hearts” and encourage the subsequent technology.

In an interview to Sky Information lately, Barbie’s Advertising and marketing Director for Europe and Rising Markets Isabel Ferrer stated the model is utilizing its platform to encourage younger ladies to discover their “limitless potential” within the house trade, which continues to be underrepresented by girls.

World Area Week was declared as an annual celebration in 1999 by the United Nations Common Meeting. This yr, greater than 90 international locations are organising occasions to mark the occasion with the theme “Ladies in Area.”