A former NASA engineer who grew to become the primary Mexican-born girl to fly into space now has a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll testifying to her being a job mannequin for the following era of scientists and explorers.
Katya “Kat” Echazarreta is one among seven feminine science, know-how, engineering and know-how (STEM) leaders chosen by Mattel to be immortalized as a Barbie doll (opens in new tab) in celebration of Worldwide Ladies’s Day on Wednesday (March 8). The opposite honorees embrace the previous chief govt officer of YouTube, the founding father of 23andME and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a UK-based space scientist and science educator.
“STEM is a subject the place girls are severely underrepresented and our hope is that honoring these seven leaders in science and know-how will encourage ladies to observe their ardour on this subject,” Lisa McKnight, govt vice chairman and international head of Barbie and Dolls at Mattel, said in statement (opens in new tab). “This Worldwide Ladies’s Day, we’re proud to proceed our work in closing the Dream Hole and reminding ladies of their limitless potential.”
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The honorees might be featured on Mattel’s Barbie role models website (opens in new tab) and as a part of a particular episode of the Barbie “You Can Be Something” digital sequence. Every of the ladies have been offered with the doll they impressed. The dolls is not going to be produced on the market to the general public.
“Barbie is devoted to showcasing girls who’re function fashions from all backgrounds, professions and nationalities in order that ladies world wide can see themselves in careers that may not all the time appear as accessible,” mentioned McKnight.
“Thanks Barbie for inviting me to be part of the function fashions marketing campaign!” mentioned Echazarreta in a social media post (opens in new tab) on Tuesday. “I used to play with my dolls and faux they had been touring the galaxy!”
Born in Mexico, Echazarreta moved to the U.S. together with her household when she was eight years outdated. She earned her bachelor’s diploma in electrical engineering from the College of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) whereas interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. Later, she accepted a place as engineer and labored on 5 missions, together with the Perseverance rover now on Mars and Europa Clipper, which is about to be launched to Jupiter’s moon in 2024.
On June 4, 2022, Echazarreta lifted off on a 10-minute suborbital spaceflight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle. Along with being the primary Mexican-born girl to cross the boundary between Earth and space, Echazarreta was additionally the primary “citizen astronaut” to fly in a seat sponsored by the non-profit Area for Humanity.
Echazarreta’s Barbie doll portrays her carrying her Area for Humanity flight swimsuit, full with a miniature model of the mission patch designed for her flight.
“Having based Area for Humanity in 2016, the objective was to democratize entry to space and encourage the following era of STEM college students. I by no means dreamed the emblem would grace a Barbie doll, however am grateful the mission has gone mainstream,” Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Area Holdings and a fellow Blue Origin passenger who launched aboard New Shepard in 2021, posted on Twitter (opens in new tab).
At present, Echazarreta is pursuing her grasp’s in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins College. She can be serving to encourage ladies and younger girls by way of her TV appearances and on her TikTok channel, the place her movies have been seen thousands and thousands of instances.
Fellow Barbie function mannequin Aderin-Pocock additionally grew to become identified for her appearances on BBC’s “The Sky at Evening” and “Stargazing” TV exhibits.
The newly-appointed chancellor of the College of Leicester in England, Aderin-Pocock earlier helped construct a spectrograph for the Gemini Observatory in Chile to check stellar populations and helped develop the statement devices for the European Area Company’s (ESA) Aeolus satellite, which was the primary mission to amass profiles of Earth’s wind on a worldwide scale. She additionally labored on the James Webb Area Telescope previous to its launch.
Aderin-Pocock’s Barbie doll has her sporting a purple star-dotted gown and has a telescope on a tripod as an adjunct.
“After I was little, Barbie did not appear like me, so to have one created in my likeness is mind-boggling,” Aderin-Pocock told BBC News (opens in new tab). “It is such an honor to obtain this doll that’s celebrating my achievements.”
Echazarreta and Aderin-Pocock are the most recent members of the space exploration and astronomy neighborhood to be acknowledged as function fashions by Mattel. Earlier real-life girls to encourage their very own Barbie dolls embrace NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson (opens in new tab), Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina (opens in new tab) and astronauts Sally Ride of NASA (opens in new tab) and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (opens in new tab).
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