Stargazer Lottie in Space

One thing I’ve spent a little bit of time on over the last few years is consulting on the development of Stargazer Lottie. I first heard about her when Lucie Follett from Arklu contacted me in August 2013 to discuss their plans to develop a stargazer doll. I’ve talked with the developers on and off ever since, providing suggestions on the clothing Lottie wears to go Stargazing (making sure she was wrapped up warm), and what kind of telescope she might be able to have (her telescope looks a bit like a Galileoscope, which is an inexpensive, but optically accurate telescope developed by astronomers). I also helped with some of the information on the box (making sure the planets were in the right order), and checked over the handout which comes with Lottie about women in astronomy. I also suggested the company contact UNAWE for links to kids activities (which did work out!).

 I’ve been delighted by the reaction to Lottie Stargazer, since she was released back in March 2015 and my own daughter (who is now 8, exactly the age Lottie is supposed to be) is a big fan of her (my son who’s 5 is a bit keener on Finn, but does like Lottie too)!

I've been hearing rumours for a while that Stargazer Lottie might go into space with Tim Peake. The company worked with ESA Kids in some of the promotion of the doll, and this wonderful idea came up a while ago, but was obviously kept well under wraps until it was decided if it could actually happen. So I was super excited when I found out it was going to work out, and Stargazer Lottie is now on the ISS with Tim Peake and his crewmates.

You should watch this adorable video about the little girl, Abigail, who first suggested to Arklu that there should be a Stargazer Lottie.



I also love this series of photos of Lottie on the ISS that ESA have made. Follow @lottie_dolls on Twitter for more.

Many congratulations to Lucie and her colleagues at Arklu for making this happen, and providing this inspirational doll to little girls everywhere. I'm really proud of the tiny contributions I've made to this project.