Without the precision of Katherine Johnson, known as the “human computer,” NASA’s history could have been very different. His calculations and operations allowed humans to be sent into space safely and give the United States the lead in the space race with the Soviet Union.
For most of his life, his research on space travel went unnoticed, and it wasn’t until recently that he gained recognition. A pioneering mathematician who, along with a group of brilliant African-American women made space travel possible in the United States, died this week at the age of 101.
Johnson was part of NASA’s Computer Pool, a group of mathematicians whose data powered NASA’s first successful space missions. The group’s success depended largely on the achievements of the African American women who were part of it.
Their work was not widely recognized until the release of “Hidden Figures” in 2017, a film version of Johnson’s accomplishments when the space agency was still segregated.
