Barbie Space Discovery Space Station Playset with Space Explorer Doll, Puppy, Workstation, Satellite Space Scenes & 20 Space Station Items:Chair, Test Tubes, Microscope, Puppy Bed, 3 - 7Years Old

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Cristoforetti is the first European female commander of the ISS and the Barbie was designed to look like her as part of a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) to inspire the next generation of space travellers. The Barbie that Gerwig is interested in may be trendy, but from the stills we've seen, it's playing on themes of camp and kitsch, both of which are great. But they're not chic. Secondly, if you thought it was un-chic when you heard about the way celebs like Kendal Jenner and Taylor Swift use their private jets, I have bad news for you about space travel. Space travel isn't exactly the top priority for the extinction rebellion lot, to put it simply. Until you can take a public transport bus to the ISS, it’s hardly going to be an environmentally conscious form of travel.

This scheme isn't just aimed at aspiring astronauts though. It is also focused on potential engineers and space scientists like Dr Nicol Caplin.Before you get your pitchforks out because we here at Euronews Culture are trying to dampen an altogether quite sweet moment, we did say it was sweet. It is. But, frankly, it’s a galaxy away from being chic. Dr Caplin, who joined the ESA as a research fellow at the age of 28, said she believes encouraging young people is mainly about choice. And third and finally, the chicness of a thing is defined by its adherents. So who likes space travel?

Created in 1959, Barbie became the cultural icon she is in the 60s. She was a brand new doll on the market that young girls could look to aspirationally. In 1965, Mattel released Miss Astronaut Barbie. Just a few years after Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space and four years before Neil Armstrong’s famous trip, Miss Astronaut Barbie walked on the moon.Which brings us up to the second side of the problem. How space became so unchic. Space isn’t what it was

Ruth Handler was steadfast in making sure Barbie was a grown-up doll with a grown-up figure so girls could imagine their own futures at a time when women’s career options were limited. Billionaires were only chic in the 90s when Donald Trump was weirdly a cultural icon still. And anything the desperate-for-attention Elon Musk does is de facto un-chic. And while that lasted for some time, still retaining her chic-icon status throughout the 70s and the 80s, the glamour eventually wore off. And just as with Barbie and the sexual revolution, the 60s was a period of hopefulness and growth. Massive investment in space travel made sense. The world was heading toward the future with open arms.Mattel created a one-off doll resembling Cristoforetti in 2019, in honour of the astronaut. A version of the doll was released for sale in 2021 and that Barbie was taken on a zero gravity parabolic flight. Before I go on, I think it's important to note that I love space. As a child, it filled me with wonderment and to this day I still find the idea of exploring beyond the boundaries of Earth exciting. But just because I like it, that doesn't make it chic.

This week, Cristoforetti answered questions from girls who had taken part in a role model programme with the charity Inspiring Girls International. It's not so much about forcing girls into STEM. I think this is all about giving young girls the choice of knowing what they want to do in life and knowing what is open to them.Fast forward to the 17th Century - until this point, ‘to pink’ was a verb meaning ‘to ruffle an edge’, and to be ‘pink-eyed’ meant to have small eyes that appear half-closed. It’s thought that the noun pink came after the Dianthus flower, after its frayed edges and not its bright pink colour. Still, it entered the English language as a colour name, and then trendsetters such as Madame le Pompadour (a member of the royal French court) popularised pink fashion in the 1700s. Barbie is partnering with the European Space Agency and it's only European female astronaut in an effort to inspire young girls to pursue careers in space and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Image: It is hoped the doll will spark children's imaginations and lead them to consider careers in space and STEM As a Deep Space Exploration Scientist in the Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate, she works on a number of astrobiology experiments destined for the International Space Station. As part of the programme, educational resources are also being made available to spotlight different space careers, and teach primary school-aged children more about space.