Pioneering NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson has died at the age of 101. Johnson was part of a group of African-American women who worked on critical mathematical calculations in the early days of human spaceflight, as chronicled in the best-selling book and hit movie “Hidden Figures.”
“She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Katherine Johnson was called upon to hand check the computer’s orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission, from blast off to splashdown.
“If she says they’re good,’” Katherine Johnson remembers the astronaut saying, “then I’m ready to go.” Glenn’s flight was a success, and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space.
NASA wishes Katherine Johnson a very Happy 100th Birthday.
To learn more about Katherine and other trailblazing ‘human computers,’ visit: https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures