AERONAUTIC STARS

AERONAUTICS STARS

It seems that women in aeronautic usually have a secondary role. However some of the most important people in NASA have been women, without us even noticing it.

That is the case of Katherine Johnson.

Johnson was born in 1918 and showed a talent for maths from an early age. She took many mathematics courses at the West Virginia State College and soon started to work as a teacher. Finally in 1953 she was offered a job of NASA.

She worked as a "computer" analyzing topics such as gust alleviation for aircraft and calculating procedures for the male physicians.

Johnson at NASA in 1966.

"Know how to learn. Then want to learn"

She worked in NASA for many years and she calculated trajectories for many flights from Project Mercury, Apolo 11 flight to the moon, missions of John Glenn and Alan Shepard and plans for a mission to Mars.
In 2015 she awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Katherine Johnson at the age of 96 being honored with the Presidential Medal

Now her story has become popular and known worldwide thanks to a film titled Hidden Figures. In it, we are shown how Katherine and her mates worked and dealed with racism and male chauvinism in the workplace during the 60's.

The film starred Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Goble Johnson,Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan, mathematician and supervisor and
Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson, who becomes an engineer. It was nominated
for three Oscars and won two Golden Globe awards.

ARTURO&AINOA

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