NASA is an organization run by the joint efforts of many, many people. While astronauts often become the poster children for space exploration, the individuals behind the scenes do not always receive the credit they deserve for their Herculean feats of engineering and creativity. Wernher von Braun is known as the man who brought humanity to the moon; however, a name most people do not know is Katherine Johnson, born Katherine Coleman. She is the African-American woman responsible for calculating the trajectory of the Apollo 11 lunar mission and Alan Shepard’s inaugural NASA space flight, and working on the emergency backup procedures to help bring the famous Apollo 13 mission astronauts back to earth.
Johnson had shown an affinity for mathematics all her life, and unsatisfied with her career as a teacher at the age of 35, found a job as a “computer” working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later known as NASA). Johnson worked with a group of women—whom she has referred to as “computers who wear skirts”—whose primary task was interpreting data from the black boxes of aircraft and carrying out very precise calculations. Johnson’s “big break,” as it were, came when she was temporarily assigned to an all-male flight research team. Her knowledge of analytical geometry helped her advance in a field where racial and gender barriers had always existed, but in her own words, she just ignored them. She outright asked to be included in editorial meetings (where no women had been before), citing that she was more than qualified and belonged there. When digital computers were first used to calculate John Glenn’s orbit around the earth, Johnson was called upon to verify the data.
Katherine Johnson left behind a legacy at NASA, having co-authored twenty-six scientific papers, and was given credit as a co-author at a time when women were not listed as formal contributors. She received numerous awards from NASA for her pioneering work in navigation problems on the Mercury and Apollo missions, and continues to be a role model for women, especially women of colour, in STEM fields.
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