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NASA Trailblazer: Katherine Johnson | National Geographic


3m read
·Nov 11, 2024

I liked what I was doing. I liked working, but little did I think it would go this far. Katherine Johnson. Catherine G. Johnson. Catherine Johnson. [Applause] Liftoff! The clock has started. Mathematics is the basis of the whole thing. [Music] You graduated from high school at 14, college at 18. Everybody knew you had a big old brain on you by that time. I didn't know, but you didn't know it. Man, you're either right or you're wrong. That I liked about it.

She always loved numbers. The professor said, "I think you'd make a good math researcher." She said, "Well, what's that?" He said, "Well, that's for you to find out." That was her dream. Catherine Johnson found her way to Hampton, Virginia, and there is NASA. NASA was hiring black mathematicians. [Music] Just opened it up to women. I was finally going to find out what a research mathematician did. Those women took a seat, and that changed our country.

Catherine Johnson was a trailblazer. She became what was known then as a computer, or a calculator, or human computer. Courage is just one of many words that describe this woman. Being the first woman in the room of all white men in a time when that was not popular, the courage to even walk in that room with your head held high. I don't think many people could do that. [Music]

When I think about my experiences and those with Kathryn Johnson, I am completely in awe. She overcame so much more prejudice, so many more challenges than I was ever faced with. In 1957, when the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite, the space race then became her job calculating trajectories for Mercury missions and Project Apollo. Catherine Johnson was so good at what she did, they needed her as an engineer.

When they had briefings, I asked permission to go, and they said, "Well, the girls don't usually go." And I said, "Well, is there a law?" I began attending the briefings, and gradually I did more. "The eagle has landed!" When they were leaving the moon, going back, that was the part that I worried about. [Music] They should be exactly correct on that, and I'm sitting there hoping I'm right too. [Music]

Without mathematicians, those great moments wouldn't have happened. [Music] In her 33 years at NASA, Catherine was a pioneer who broke the barriers of race and gender. Everyone can excel in math and science and reach for the stars. Catherine often remarked that even though there were medals and awards and so many things that she received, and honors, her favorite thing to receive were letters from children.

Catherine Johnson has taught me not to let anyone bring me down and that women are capable of doing anything they want to do. Catherine Johnson has taught me to believe in myself and my capabilities. Kathryn Johnson was an amazing African-American female mathematician who changed the world. Because of Catherine and NASA, we've embraced that diversity of thought; it only improves our capacity to make change, both in outer space and here on earth.

Now, younger versions of myself don't have to wait until they're an adult to finally hear about her, to let her be a role model in their lives today. My problem was to answer questions, and I did that to the best of my ability at all times, and it was a joy. [Music] [Music] You.

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