Science & Technology

Katherine Johnson

Born August 26, 1918 · White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia · Joined the Ancestors February 24, 2020

A NASA mathematician whose orbital calculations were critical to America's first crewed spaceflights — Katherine Johnson computed the trajectory that put John Glenn into orbit and brought him safely home.

Known For

Calculating space flight trajectories

Depicted In

Hidden Figures (2016)

Honor

NASA facility named in her honor

Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson showed extraordinary mathematical talent from childhood, graduating from high school at 14 and college at 18. In 1953, she joined the all-Black West Area Computing section at what would become NASA.

Her calculations were so precise that when NASA began using electronic computers, John Glenn specifically requested that she verify the numbers before his orbital mission in 1962. Her work was critical to Project Mercury, the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, and the early Space Shuttle program.

For decades, her contributions were largely unknown to the public. The 2016 book and film Hidden Figures finally brought her story to the world. In 2015, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She continued to inspire until her passing at age 101.