Space Doll

Mars Explorer Barbie launches NASA into the toy business

An unlikely duo has come together to make a toy that’s out of this world. Mattel and NASA have launched a Mars Explorer Barbie, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Curiosity rover on Mars.

Barbie is outfitted and ready to take on Mars — and add a splash of pink to the Red Planet. This astronaut Barbie comes with a pink-and-white space suit, a pink helmet and — of course — a pink oxygen tank.

"Barbie consulted with the NASA EVA [extravehicular activity] Suit Team on the design of the doll, to ensure the Mars Explorer Barbie doll captured the spirit and style of space explorers," a Mattel spokesperson told SPACE.com.

Mars Explorer Barbie comes with a six-wheeled science laboratory. The box also promotes NASA’s Women@NASA site, with fun facts about the history of female astronauts and space engineers.

Barbie — who's had more than 130 careers in her lifetime — has been to space before. In 1965, two years after Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, Barbie Miss Astronaut was released, alongside a matching Mr. Astronaut Ken. Their clothing was inspired by the pressure suits worn by the all-male U.S. Mercury astronauts.

In 1985, an Astronaut Barbie sporting sparkly pink and silver mini-skirt space suit came out. And, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek in 1996, Mattel released Star Trek Barbie and Ken. It appears that Mars Explorer Barbie was inevitable.

Mars Explorer Barbie was released in time for the Curiosity Rover's first birthday.

Photo by Chris Rodriguez Jeremy Lips/SPACE.com

Mars Explorer Barbie was released in time for the Curiosity Rover's first birthday.

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income analysis

This is the family income needed for one parent to stay home in Texas

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major metros like Dallas-Fort Worth, forcing many families to weight the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas, that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support their stay-at-home partner and their child, the report found. If both parents worked in the household, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in North Texas, however, is slightly more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $22,337 to raise a child in Dallas-Fort Worth.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report's author says families will look for ways to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family