Barbie taken into space to feature in Design Museum’s new exhibition

A Barbie that has been into space will go on public display for the first time as part of the upcoming Design Museum exhibition to mark the 65th anniversary of the world-famous doll brand.

The doll is a likeness of European Space Agency astronaut and Europe’s first female commander of the International Space Station, Samantha Cristoforetti, and it spent six months orbiting the Earth with her in 2022.

Toy company Mattel, which makes Barbie, released Cristoforetti’s doll in 2021 to coincide with World Space Week and to help encourage girls to become “the next generation of astronauts, engineers and space scientists”.