SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center:Let's go party ... in space? First Barbie dolls to fly in space debut at Smithsonian museum

The SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Centerhighly-anticipated movie starring Margot Robbie isn't the only "Barbie" to make its premiere this week.

Fresh off a recent trip to outer space, two astronaut Barbie dolls made their debut on Tuesday at the National Air and Space Museum. Part of Mattel's Space Discovery line, the two dolls launched aboard a rocket in February 2022 to spend several months among real-life astronauts aboard NASA's International Space Station.

Once again earthbound, the Barbie dolls are now on display at the Smithsonian Institution museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. There, the donated astronaut figures will be among displays of thousands of aviation and space artifacts.

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Margaret Weitekamp, chair of the museum's space history department who curated the display, said that the addition to the museum of the iconic Barbie dolls manufactured by Mattel "puts them in a kind of conversation with the other real space artifacts."

"Toys and memorabilia represent everyday objects that also tell important space stories," Weitekamp said. "I hope that visitors who see them can gain an added appreciation for the role that inspiration and aspiration play in the history of real spaceflight technologies."

The dolls − wearing a white spacesuit with pink and blue detailing, white gloves, and white boots − are part of the most recent Barbie figures that Mattel released in 2021 under its Space Discovery line. But before they could fly to space, the dolls had to prepare for life in microgravity: they left all of their accessories behind, and their hair had to be styled in a way to keep it from shedding in the spaceflight environment.

While on board the International Space Station, the dolls were seen in an official Barbie YouTube video touring the station, including its cupola where astronauts can gaze out a window into space and the Earth far below, as well as veggie garden where they grow fresh produce.

Museum debut coincides with 'Barbie' premiere

The dolls' debut at the museum occurred three days before theatrical debut of "Barbie," the meta-comedy movie directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie as one of the most famous dolls ever. Also starring Ryan Gosling as Barbie's quasi-boyfriend Ken, the film follows Barbie's adventure from her pink paradise to the real world as she deals with an existential crisis.

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The new dolls join three Barbie dolls in space outfits that have already been on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Six years after Mattel introduced the first Barbie doll to the world, the company debuted the "Miss Astronaut" in 1965 − four years before American astronauts even visited the moon. Wearing a silver spacesuit inspired by the Mercury astronauts, the red-headed doll is the oldest of the three astronaut Barbies that are already part of the Virginia center's collection.

Also on display is an African-American Astronaut Barbie from 1985 wearing a shiny peplum miniskirt worn over silver leggings and knee-high pink boots; and a 1994 Moon landing Barbie wearing a space suit without a shred of her signature pink to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @EricLagatta.