She also computed rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon. These include those formulated for astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn. Johnson’s gifted understanding of numbers allowed her to calculate trajectories, launch windows and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights. NASA credits her “historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist." Additionally, Johnson helped push the use of computers to perform the calculating tasks. Johnson mastered complex calculations, by hand. Johnson's calculations of orbital mechanics were critical to the success of the first NASA-crewed spaceflight, paving the way for future spaceflights. She accepted a job offer from the agency in 1953. The field was difficult for African Americans and women to enter, but she bravely pursued her dreams regardless of the viewpoints during 1950s America.Ī family member tipped her off that National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, and later changed to NASA in 1958) was hiring mathematicians and Johnson jumped at the opportunity. Johnson faced many odds when she started to pursue her career as a research mathematician.
#KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA SCIENTIST SERIES#
Sign up for The Scoop to receive updates from this series right in your inbox.Ĭalculating is truly a science and not everyone can “sum it up” like the brilliant mind that belonged to Katherine Johnson. From women breaking gender barriers in their fields to women fighting for equal rights, they all embody what Death Wish strives for every day: strength. Series note: For Women's History month, we'll be featuring hardworking women each week who inspire us daily. A fitting honour for someone who’s work has impacted so much of modern science.Celebrating NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who died at 101 on Feb. And she and her colleagues were also the focus of the 2016 film Hidden Figures. Johnson’s contributions to the history of space travel went relatively unrecognised for decades, but in 2015 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama, the highest civilian honour the United States gives. And when Apollo 13 announced that “Houston, we have a problem”, Johnson’s work on backup procedures helped to get them home safely. Johnson was involved in the first mission that put men on the moon, helping to calculate their launch trajectory. When electronic computers began to be used at NASA, astronaut John Glenn refused to accept the figures until they had been checked by Johnson, stating “If she says the numbers are good, I’m ready to go”. Johnson calculated the trajectory for the rocket, and the launch window for Alan Sheppard’s 1961 mission that made him the first American in space. Overcoming the barriers faced by black women in the sciences, Johnson’s work is part of so many iconic moments in NASA’s history. She calculated the trajectories rockets needed to be launched at, and even the times at which it was possible to launch them at all. Eventually, it was impossible to ignore her mathematical skill and she began assisting with NASA spaceflights, although she still faced pervasive discrimination. She spent her time there segregated by both her race, and her gender. She began work at NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, where she was a human computer, reading the black box data from aeroplanes. Johnson was renowned for her mathematical abilities. Adam Murphy has been reflecting on her contribution to the space race…Īdam - Katherine Johnson, legendary NASA mathematician, passed away on February 24th at the age of 101. Indeed, some astronauts refused to fly unless she’d personally looked at the figures. It was her calculations that got men to the moon, and safely home again.
We were saddened to hear of the recent death of NASA’s mathematical legend, Katherine Johnson.
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