To me, this is the kind of set the Ideas theme lends itself to the best. A small desktop display that would not be hard to MOC on your own is made all the better thanks to the official LEGO treatment, the highlight being the superb minifigures and printed nameplates. I found this second-hand about the same time that the 50th Anniversary Lunar Lander came out, and the models complement each other perfectly (still gotta get that Saturn V).

At the intersection of microscale and space exploration, along with exclusive historical minifigures, I can't find many reasons not to pick up this set if you have the opportunity.

Summary

A nice little set, original and well done by the original designer - Maia Weinstock. These are three nice little builds, with some interesting building techniques used. For anyone interested in science and space exploration this is a nice set to have.

Build experience

All the parts come in three unnumbered bags, and with the pieces for every display divided among them. You have to open all the bags at once. You can split up the build in nice little parts - the three displays - and even subdivide those into building the stand and building the display. I took my time building, but I would guess someone can build this set in about 20 minutes or even less. Some of the newer parts (apparently first produced in 2017) have been used in this set with positive effect. Also, no stickers, everything is printed.

The minifigures

The minifigures are excellent, and correspond nicely to the pictures (as printed in the manual) of the real individuals they are supposed to depict, in dress, face print and hair style. It is nice to see Sally Ride and Mae Jemison each wearing different space suits (one blue, one orange) as well. All minifigs have an alternate face print. I am not sure to what extent the various parts and prints are unique for Lego minifigs.

The build(s)

The three minibuilds share similar display footings, though each of them is constructed differently. And IMHO each has something the recommend them: The Margeret Hamilton display was the most elegant in its construction design (especially building the white wall), the space shuttle is simply an eye-catcher, and the most creative use of parts - the Lego trash can - was in the construction of the Hubble telescope.

The one little thing that I have an issue with, is that Mae Jemison is carrying a helmet, which continues to fall out of her hands.

Playability vs Displayability

This set is clearly designed as a display set. One can play around a little with the space shuttle, but that is about it.

Verdict

A small, nice set, something completely different from what we normally see from Lego. The use of parts is very effective, and even though small in size, the displays do catch one's eye. What's more, the prise is quite reasonable, I think. Highly recommended.

Set #21312 Women of NASA: LEGO Ideas sets are often impressive and often well received. I can’t recall an Ideas set in recent memory that wasn’t well received by the fans or the buying public. This set is based on real-world people involved with the Space Program and much like Research Institute includes predominantly female characters of real-world historical import. That pretty much covers everything, let’s move on to the review.

Box/Instructions

Box: Another great looking box, I love the Ideas boxes, they are opened in such a way that they are very useful, you can hold all the parts and then build them from straight out of the box. The graphic artwork and real-world pictures on the back are also really well done and I’m pleased how they make the set look so much impressive.

Instructions: We’ve got some nice facts about the designer, the concept and of course the real-world people included as Minifigures in this set. The build instructions are also quite nicely set up and easy to follow.

Parts

There’s some printed name tiles in the set and a few printed elements as part of the vignette scene showing some math and the panels on the satellite. I don’t think this set is for MOC fans though, but they’ve definitely got some nice elements in here.

Minifigures

Mae Jemison: Representing a famous astronaut, this Minifigure looks great. Dressed in an orange space suit with a separate helmet piece and hair piece depending on your moods, the character looks great in Minifigure form. She also has two different expressions a regular smile and a more open-mouth smile showing her teeth.

Margaret Hamilton: She features dual-molded legs with some very impressive printing for her 1950’s era dress/outfit, and she is using a very nice looking hair piece… I can’t be sure on this one, but I’m partially reminded of the hair piece used for Ginny Weasely. Her face is dual-sided as well with a large smile on one side and a less toothy smile on the other. I could discuss their real world counterparts more, but I am frankly clueless on the real-world equivalents of these Minifigures so I’m afraid I’ll have to discuss the details and parts only.

Nancy Grace Roman: This Minifigure represents a very important person from what I can recall in the write-up in the manual, and the parts used are all very impressive. Her outfit is printed on a dual-sided torso and she’s using a very nice looking hair sculpt in grey… I think it’s the same hair used by the Hollywood Starlet actually, though as I write this I don’t have them side-by-side so I can’t be 100% sure on that. Like with Margaret she does not include any accessories, and as with all of the figures so far she has two expressions, one smile with open mouth showing teeth and the other a bit more neutral of an expression.

Sally Ride: The fourth and final Minifigure is dressed in a blue uniform with a dual-sided torso print which also features her name tag and some logos and things. She gets an accessory, a camera, unlike the rest of the figures, and her head is dual-sided, one with smiling and the other is a bit of an angry scowl actually… does this mean she is upset with somebody? Or is it a re-use of a head from a different character? I can’t say for certain, but seeing as how the others seemed to feature unique prints I can’t imagine LEGO would re-use another head with another print from someone else for this character.

The build

You’re building vignettes here and it does get slightly repetitive where the display stand elements are concerned, but the rest of the builds are all unique and very nicely crafted. You’ve got a satellite, a re-creation of a famous photograph and a scale model of the space shuttle complete with detachable stage one and two rockets.

I think the most satisfying build was the shuttle, but the satellite model is pretty cleverly designed too and I enjoyed both builds much more than the third vignette which is rather lacking compared to the other two.

The completed model

Each of the three vignettes represents a part of STEM careers and does a very good job of showing off the historical lives of the chosen professionals included in this set. Two of the three vignettes are really quite impressive actually, all of the models are very nicely done, the third vignette is a re-creation of a photo which the instructions showcases and honestly it’s the weakest of the three because it just looks a little bland, it also suffers a bit from not being very scientific oriented. (I mean stacking a bunch of files or something just doesn’t impress as much as a space shuttle or a satellite.)

Overall some great looking vignettes though with some very nice models, many people will enjoy the set for those reasons alone.

Overall opinion

I’d definitely recommend this set for Ideas fans. It looks great and is a nice tribute to the real-world people behind some of the most important technological discoveries and achievements of the Space program in the past century. If you’re a fan of Space and Real-World history you’re definitely going to enjoy this set. I strongly recommend this one, and the price can’t be beat compared to some of the other Ideas sets they’ve made.