Remembering NASA pioneer Katherine Johnson

In late February, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson passed away at age 101 at a retirement home in Newport News, Virginia. Johnson not only calculated the trajectory for America’s first space trip with astronaut Alan Shepard and the calculations for the first moon landing in 1969 but also overcame racism and sexism throughout her career.

“Katherine Johnson loved to count,” NASA Educational Technology Services representative Heather S. Deiss said on NASA’s website. “Born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Johnson’s love for mathematics was inherent, an inclination she had from birth. At a young age, she was ready and anxious to go to school.”

By the age of 10, Johnson was already in high school.

“In school, one teacher stood out to Johnson,” Deiss said. “Miss Turner taught geometry, and Johnson couldn’t wait to take her class. The teacher was a great encourager to the students and a strong mentor to many of them. Johnson did so well in her classes that she graduated early from high school, and at age 15, she entered West Virginia State College.”

After college, Johnson’s only option in her community was to teach, and she did until she left to marry and start a family. After Johnson’s husband fell ill, she began teaching again until a relative mentioned to her that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor to NASA, was hiring.

“They were specifically looking for African American females to work as ‘computers’ in what was then their Guidance and Navigation Department,” Deiss said. “Johnson immediately applied for the job, but the agency already had filled its quota for the year. By the time the next year rolled around, Johnson had applied again and found herself with two contracts on her table. One was a contract to teach, and one was to work for NACA.”

Johnson chose to work for NACA and, in 1953, began to work on problems assigned from the engineers in what was then the Guidance and Control Branch.

“As Johnson worked on the problems, she would ask questions,” Deiss said. “None of the other women had ever asked questions before, but by asking questions, Johnson began to stand out. She was told that women didn’t participate in the briefings or attend meetings; she asked if there were a law against it. The answer, of course, was no, and so Johnson began to attend briefings.”

The men in the group eventually relied on Johnson as a leader, and in 1962, when President John F. Kennedy charged the country to send a man to the Moon, Johnson became part of the team. Along with many other accolades, she was named Mathematician of the Year in 1997 by the National Technical Association and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Even after Johnson’s retirement in 1986, she encouraged students to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Her story, as well as those of her colleagues Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, were told in the book, Hidden Figures. The author, Margot Lee Shetterly, explained how this group of black women completed some of the most imperative work in the world at the time. Margot Lee Shetterly’s book was later turned into a film released in 2016, which was nominated for three Oscars.

Although Johnson has passed, she will always be a role model, especially in the black community. Her perseverance throughout her career will continue to motivate and inspire women every day.