“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing.”

 

NASA TRAILBLAZER. MATHEMATICIAN. GENDER & RACE EQUALITY ADVOCATE.  All of these are what Katherine Johnson represented throughout her life.  She stands among NASA’s most inspirational figures. In honor of her passing earlier this week, this post is dedicated to her as a woman changing women. 

 

Johnson was known as being a "human computer", specifically because it was her meticulous calculations responsible for rocketing astronauts (all male)  into space in the 1960’s.  Taking part in briefings, often time as the only woman, she was noticed for her calculation accuracy.  As a skeptic when it came to computers that calculated his spacecraft’s trajectory in 1962, John Glenn requested her help and asked her to compare her handwritten calculations to that of the computers. When the computer’s calculations matched that of Katherine’s, John Glenn said, "'If she says they're good, then I'm ready to go.'"  Her role in this flight helped the U.S. move ahead as they competed with the Soviet Union for advancement in space. 

This all happened in the 1960s and 1970s, but It wasn’t until the release of 2016’s “Hidden Figures” that her work became widely recognized by the general public.  The film portrayed not just her accomplishments but her struggles as a person that had two strikes against her.  One, she was a woman. Two, she was African-American.  During a time where NASA was still largely segregated (both by race and gender), she moved forward with courage, strength and humility to shatter the glass ceiling in what at the time was a white, male-dominated industry.  

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Thank you Katherine Johnson for being an inspirational figure to so many of us!