Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician with a 35-year career at NASA who earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform those tasks.
She calculated historic flight trajectories for the first American to go into space, for the first American to orbit the earth, as well as the flight path for the first human trip to the moon. Not just this but there are more Fun Facts about Katherine Johnson, so scroll down to on 215mag.
Top 5 Katherine Johnson Fun Facts
Read these Top 5 Katherine Johnson Fun Facts. Despite enduring racial and gender barriers, Johnson’s genius, determination, and love of numbers helped put men into space.
Her accomplishments have since been recognized, leading her to be regarded as one of the pioneers of the space age.
1. She’s one of the inspirations for the critically acclaimed film, “Hidden Figures”- an untold true story about three African American women mathematicians who were behind one of NASA’s first successful space missions. Taraji P. Henson portrayed Johnson in the film, and Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe played Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.
Image Source: theundefeated2. She helped send the first men to the moon. The same year John Glenn made his historic journey, NASA received orders from President John F. Kennedy to get to work on a more ambitious mission: sending a manned shuttle to the moon.
This trip would require even more calculations, and Johnson once again played a significant role. She worked with NASA’s team of engineers to pinpoint the time and location of departure that would put astronauts on track for the moon.
Image Source: gulfnews3. She received an award named after Snoopy. In 2015, Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. In 2016, she was presented with the Silver Snoopy Award by NASA astronaut Leland D. Melvin as well as a NASA Group Achievement Award. In 2019, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Image Source: vox4. Johnson’s school didn’t offer school past 8th grade. Johnson showed strong mathematical abilities from an early age. Since where she lived, Greenbrier County, West Virginia, did not offer public schooling for African-American students past the eighth grade, her family arranged for her to attend high school in Institute, on the campus of West Virginia State College (WVSC).
Image Source: wikipedia5. Johnson began high school when she was just 10 years old. When she graduated at 14, she enrolled at West Virginia State and took every math course offered by the college. She graduated with summa cum laude honors in 1937 and began teaching.
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