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Katherine Johnson, Groundbreaking NASA Mathematician, Dies at 101
Feb 24, 2020 2 mins, 58 secs
Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician who performed calculations that help send astronauts into space and inspired the movie Hidden Figures, has died at the age of 101. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted the news this morning. Our @NASA family is sad to learn the news that Katherine Johnson passed away this morning at 101 years old. She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten. https://t.co/UPOqo0sLfb pic.twitter.com/AgtxRnA89h — Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) February 24, 2020 "Ms. Johnson helped our nation enlarge the frontiers of space even as she made huge strides that also opened doors for women and people of color in the universal human quest to explore space," Bridenstine said in a statement. "Her dedication and skill as a mathematician helped put humans on the Moon and before that made it possible for our astronauts to take the first steps in space that we now follow on a journey to Mars." Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia in 1918, and developed an early passion and affinity for numbers. She attended the historically black West Virginia State College, where she earned a degree in mathematics in 1937 and began teaching at a black public school soon after. In 1939, she was asked to be one of three black students—and the only woman—to integrate into West Virginia University. (She left after the first session to start a family.) In 1953, Johnson took a position as a human computer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' (NACA's) all-black West Area Computing section in Langley, Virginia. Johnson was soon assigned to a permanent position with the Maneuver Loads Branch of NACA's Flight Research Division, where she analyzed data and crunched numbers for four years. After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, Johnson was assigned to work with NACA's newly formed Space Task Group, which would eventually become NASA. Johnson calculated the orbital trajectories for several missions, including Alan Shepard's ground-breaking Freedom 7 mission in 1961, in which he became the first American to travel into space. She later became the first woman within NASA's Flight Research Division to coauthor a research paper. Related Stories 32 Women Who’ve Changed Life As We Know It 18 Famous Women Who Explored Space 10 Women Changing the Way We Talk About Science But Johnson is perhaps best known for her work calculating the equations that would safely launch John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, into space. While NASA had first entrusted the job to newly minted IBM computers stationed in Washington, D.C., Cape Canaveral, and Bermuda, Glenn was understandably nervous about the glitch-prone technology. He tapped to Johnson run the numbers again. “If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go,” he reportedly said at the time. Alex WongGetty Images She contributed to NASA's Apollo program by developing equations that would help Apollo's Lunar Lander connect with the Command and Service Module, which orbited the moon. Her work also supported NASA's shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite. In 1986, after 33 years, numerous missions, and 26 research reports, Johnson retired. In 2015, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, for her work with NASA. Johnson paved the way for generations of explorers, engineers, mathematicians, and astronauts. Her work, along with Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, inspired Hidden Figures, the 2016 book that became a hit movie the same year. "At NASA we will never forget her courage and leadership and the milestones we could not have reached without her," Bridenstine said. Ad Astra, Katherine Johnson.

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