KATHERINE JOHNSON

As an African American woman working for NASA in the 1950s and ‘60s, Katherine Johnson overcame social boundaries and racial discrimination. Born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson’s hometown did not offer public schooling for black children past eight grade so her family moved away so that she could attend highschool. Johnson graduated highschool at the age of 14 and college at the age of 18 with both mathematics and French degree.

Johnson soon applied and was hired at the NASA Langley Research Center, tasked with performing and checking calculation for fight tests. Katherine Johnson was a NASA mathematician who played a huge role in numerous NASA missions during the Space Race. She calculated the trajectory needed to get the Apollo 11 mission to the moon and back and also provided backup procedures that ensures the Apollo 13 crew’s safe return after their craft malfunctioned. She later helped to develop the space shuttle program and Earth resources satellite before retiring in 1986.

Johnson spend the following years encouraging students to pursue STEM education, and speaking about her career. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. And in 2016, the NASA Langley facility renamed a building in her honor: The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. In 2019, she published a book for younger reader called “Reaching for the Moon”. Katherine Johnson passed away on February 24, 2020, at the age of 101, and her legacy will be remembered.