Business

American Girl's Newest Doll Is NASA-Approved

American Girl's 2018 girl of the year is an 11-year-old who dreams of going to Mars.

American Girl's Newest Doll Is NASA-Approved
American Girl
SMS

American Girl's newest doll wants to inspire kids to set some far-out goals — like, way far out.

Meet Luciana Vega, the doll company's 2018 girl of the year; she wants to be the first to reach Mars.

American Girl teamed up with NASA to make Luciana's story as realistic as possible. The space agency created space simulations, quizzes and other stuff for the doll-maker's educational website.

Megan McArthur, a NASA astronaut who worked with American Girl, said, "It is so important to find exciting new ways to inspire our next generation of space explorers."

For over 50 years, NASA itself has had many missions to Mars and hopes to finally send astronauts to the Red Planet sometime in the 2030s.

An Olympic Fencer Inspired A First For Barbie
An Olympic Fencer Inspired A First For Barbie

An Olympic Fencer Inspired A First For Barbie

The upcoming doll is based on fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first U.S. Olympian to compete while wearing a hijab.

LEARN MORE

And other toy companies have tried to get kids interested in space for a while now.

In 2017, Lego released a "Women of NASA" set that featured a quartet of celebrated female scientists and astronauts who played vital roles in the U.S. space program.

In 2013, Barbie released a Mars Explorer doll, complete with a pink and white space suit.

American Girl's Luciana doll will go on sale Jan. 1.