World Space Week: ESA astronaut's Barbie doll replica sent on zero-gravity flight

Kickstarting the World Space Week, on October 4, the European Space Agency (ESA) has sent a Barbie doll inspired by Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, on a zero-gravity flight. As per the agency, this idea will promote women’s representation in space and will encourage a higher influx of young girls in science, technology, maths and engineering (STEM) careers. 

Theme of World Space Week

The World Space Week, which starts on October 4 and goes on till October 10, has commenced with a theme 'Women in Space’. The week's theme hopes to inspire young girls to make a career in space science and engineering. The Barbie doll, based on Cristoforetti, is a result of ESA’s collaboration with toymaker Mattel Inc., said the agency. 

ESA's official release stated, “The ESA/Barbie partnership goes back to 2019, when ESA’s Communications Partnerships Unit arranged for two unique Samantha Cristoforetti figures to be used by Barbie Mattel Italia to promote their longer-term ‘Dream Gap Project."

Aim of the project

As per the ESA, this project focuses on research on the cultural stereotypes and media representations that have shown over the years that young girls doubt their ability to carry out certain tasks after a certain age. “The research also shows that women are still under-represented in STEM careers and even at a young age, girls say that they are least confident in their maths skills in school. This means that they are missing out on potentially fulfilling and highly paid careers in the industry,” it added. 

Furthermore, the agency revealed that this fresh collaboration is for the creation of an educational bursary to promote diversity and excellence in the European aerospace sector. The institution will be founded with the help of Women in Aerospace Europe, a Netherlands-based non-profit international organisation, as per ESA.

The zero-gravity flight

The Barbie doll, based on Cristoforetti, experienced the zero-gravity flight at the ESA base in Germany. Ever since the doll was made public, the demand for it has spread across all of Europe. The ESA said that proceeds from the sales of the Barbie used in the flight will be donated to the Women in Aerospace Europe organisation. Meanwhile, the real-life Cristoforetti is currently preparing for her next flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in April 2022.

(Image: Twitter/@ESA)