Mattel introduced the 'Miss Astronaut' Barbie doll in 1965, thirteen years before women were allowed to join NASA and before Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, and two years later, the first black astronaut came out. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the 'Astronaut Barbie' wears a spacesuit similar to the ones that real astronauts wore in the 1960s and '70s. The company continued to release space-themed Barbies, including 'Space Camp' in 2008, 'Mars Explorer' in 2013, 'Space Scientist' in 2017, and 'Astrophysicist' in 2019. In 2021, the Barbie Space Discovery line featured two dolls who actually travelled aboard an Antares rocket in February 2022 and spent several months on the International Space Station (ISS). Except for a few, all the dolls and costumes were donated to the National Air and Space Museum by Mattel in 1995.

Russian Anna Kikina, who became a cosmonaut in 2012, is among the latest role models chosen for Mattel's 'You Can Be Whoever You Want' campaign, alongside Katya "Kat" Echazarreta, a former NASA engineer who became the first Mexican-born woman to fly into space now have a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll.