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#KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA FAMILY MOVIE#
In 2016, the movie “Hidden Figures” told Johnson’s story. However, it would be many years before the public learned about her work. Johnson was a key member of the team that determined the trajectory of the Apollo 11 mission. The next year, John Glenn asked her to calculate his orbit around the Earth. She calculated the path for America’s first human spaceflight in 1961. Soon, Katherine Johnson became one of the most talented and respected human computers at NASA. However, she pointed out that there were no rules against men and women going to the same meetings. When Johnson went to meetings with her male colleagues, it caused quite the stir. Race wasn’t the only factor used for separation-people of different genders often had to work in separate rooms. She was the first person of color to use a formerly white-only restroom. In fact, it was Johnson who brought around the end of this rule. For example, people of different colors had to use separate restrooms. Segregation still existed in NASA at that time. She was the only Black person in the department. Soon after starting her job, Johnson became part of NASA’s Flight Research Division.
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In Johnson’s case, she solved math problems that helped NASA send people into space. Their job was to solve important math problems. However, at that time, computers were people.
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They’re advanced pieces of technology people use for school, work, and entertainment. After all, today’s computers are machines. You may be WONDERing how a person can be a computer. It was looking for Black women with experience in math to work as computers. In 1952, she learned that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later called NASA) was hiring. The couple then moved to Marion, Virginia.įor the next decade, Johnson focused on her family. Soon, though, she and her husband learned that they were going to have a child. Katherine Johnson became one of the first three Black students to enter graduate school at West Virginia University. Then, in 1940, West Virginia ended segregation in its schools. She was only 18.Īfter college, Johnson became a teacher. Johnson graduated with degrees in mathematics and French from West Virginia University in 1937.
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In fact, she started high school at only 10 years old! In college, she quickly took every single math class her school offered. Johnson was an excellent student and moved quickly through school. In school, this turned into a deep love for math. As a young child, Johnson liked to count. Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 1918. As a Black woman working in the field of mathematics in the mid-1900s, Johnson broke many barriers. Who was Katherine Johnson? She was one of the people who worked to make the Moon landing happen. You might already know about the astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Most people have heard a few of the names connected to this success. On July 20, 1969, human beings landed on the Moon.
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