And it was a joy to contribute to the literature that was going to be coming out.īut you know, math is the same. I like the stars and the stories we were telling.
The pioneer in science and math was memorialized by. 24), news surfaced of famed mathematician Katherine Johnson ’s passing at age 101. The main thing is I liked what I was doing. Febru10:22am Getty Images On Monday morning (Feb. I didn’t do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question – and succeeded there. Katherine Johnson was a mathematician who calculated the flight paths for many missions during her more than three decades with NASA. Her calculations proved critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landings and the start of the Space Shuttle program. We carry on her legacy as a family and continue to share her inspirational story with people all over the world. She was also a teacher, a sorority sister, a mentor, a devoted daughter, a loving wife, a sister, a cousin, an aunt, a friend. Katherine continued to work at NASA until 1986. Katherine Johnson was more than a character in a movie. Katherine Johnson and other 'Human Computers' played an integral role in the early days of Americas space program. Johnson In recognition of critical contributions, achieved in spite of the cultural barriers of race and gender, to the success of the nation's human spaceflight program - Projects Mercury and Apollo, and the Space Shuttle Program. But when they went to computers, they called over and said, "Tell her to check and see if the computer trajectory they had calculated was correct." So I checked it, and it was correct. In school she quickly skipped ahead several grades and was soon studying complex equations with the support of a professor who saw great promise in her. As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for math. You could do much more, much faster on the computer. The inspiring autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I'll do it backward and tell you when to take off." That was my forte.Įven after NASA had electronic computers, John Glenn requested that Katherine personally recheck the computer calculations before his 1962 Friendship 7 flight – the first American mission to orbit Earth. As a human computer, Katherine calculated the trajectory for astronaut Alan Shepard’s 1961 Freedom 7 mission to space – the first spaceflight for an American.Įarly on, when they said they wanted the capsule to come down at a certain place, they were trying to compute when it should start. English: Katherine Johnson, NASA employe, mathematician and physicist, in 1966.
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