In her later NASA career, Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology fields.”Īlso honored was William Ruckelshaus, who twice served as head of the EPA as well as acting as director of the FBI and deputy attorney general of the United States.
#Katherine johnson nasa apollo 11 verification#
Johnson exhibited exceptional technical leadership and is known especially for her calculations of the 1961 trajectory for Alan Shepard’s flight (first American in space), the 1962 verification of the first flight calculation made by an electronic computer for John Glenn’s orbit (first American to orbit the earth), and the 1969 Apollo 11 trajectory to the moon. Johnson was hired as a research mathematician at the Langley Research Center with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA, after they opened hiring to African-Americans and women. A NASA mathematician, Johnson’s computations have influenced every major space program from Mercury through the Shuttle program. Johnson is a pioneer in American space history.
Here is the White House’s statement on Johnson’s selection in the winner’s announcement: “Katherine G. “The entire NASA family is both proud of and grateful to Katherine Johnson, a true American pioneer who helped our space program advance to new heights, while advancing humanity’s march of progress ever forward.” “Katherine’s legacy is a big part of the reason that my fellow astronauts and I were able to get to space it’s also a big part of the reason that today there is space for women and African-Americans in the leadership of our nation, including the White House,” wrote NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in a statement on Johnson’s selection. Obama presents NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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