Katherine Johnson Contributions Moved NASA Forward

GREEN BAY, WI- (WGBW) –  Called a “Human Computer” for her mathematical capabilities Creola Katherine Johnson was critical to the success of the first manned space flights in the United States. 

Johnson’s work was made famous by the movie “Hidden Figures” which took a Hollywood look at her work on the Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for Alan Shepard and John Glenn. She calculated trajectories, launch windows, and return paths.

At a time when America was rife with racial tension and many areas of the South were segregated, the work Katherine Johnson did at NASA was crucial to the historical moon missions. She went on to work with America’s Space Shuttle program. 

She spent her later years encouraging students to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM fields.

In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was given the Congressional Gold Medal in 2019, and in 2021 was posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. When she died on February 24, 2020, NASA’s Administrator Jim Bridenstine called her “An American Hero.”

For furthering space exploration, encouraging and inspiring students, and serving as a Pioneering example of African American women in STEM fields, Kathrine Johnson is not a hidden figure, but a historical figure for Black History Month.