posted 07-31-2023 01:45 PM               

The forgotten story of the real first Barbie to fly into space (on a still-secret mission)

As it turns out, the two Barbie dolls that recently went on display at the Smithsonian are not the first to have flown into space, contrary to how they are described in the exhibit.

The pair of "Space Discovery" dolls that debuted July 18 at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia were indeed launched into orbit in 2022, and were the first Barbie dolls that Mattel — the toy company behind the iconic fashion figure brand — arranged to fly. But another Barbie made the trip 32 years earlier aboard a still-classified space shuttle mission and today it sits in the home of its original owner.

posted 08-01-2023 04:33 PM               

IMAX was not flown on STS-38 or any other DoD mission. Per the Flight Crew Report:

A standard camera complement was flown plus the following: Canon A1 8mm video camcorder...

For another picture with Barbie with a pose by a Gridcase 1139 laptop see STS-38-30-024.

posted 08-01-2023 06:26 PM               

Indeed, Barbie would have provided a morale boost.