Johnson co-authored 28 scientific papers during her 33 years with NASA before retiring in 1986. Later in her career, she worked on the space shuttle program, the Earth Resources Satellite, and plans for a mission to Mars. While working in NASA’s Flight Dynamics Branch at LRC, Johnson helped author the first textbook on space. She also calculated the trajectory for the 1969 Apollo flight to the moon, which she has described as her most significant work. But, according to Johnson, NASA officials called on her to verify the numbers generated by the computers. In 1962, computers, which replaced human computers, were used for the first time to calculate John Glenn’s orbit around Earth. Johnson plotted backup navigational charts for astronauts in case of electronic failures. She also provided calculations to propel space capsules into orbit around the moon and to send landing units to and from the lunar surface. She was one of the first African Americans to attend West Virginia University where she completed several graduate courses.Īfter teaching for seven years in elementary and high schools in West Virginia and Virginia, in 1953, Johnson joined the Langley Research Center (LRC), which later became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as a pool mathematician or “human computer.” At NASA, Johnson provided computations for the early space program, including computing the launch window for astronaut Alan Shepard’s 1961 Mercury mission. Graduating from high school at age 14, she attended West Virginia State College (now University), where she majored in mathematics and French and graduated summa cum laude at age 18, earning a Bachelor of Science degree. Because the local schools only offered classes to African Americans through the eighth grade, her father enrolled his children in a school 125 miles away from their home, where Johnson’s mother and three siblings lived during the academic year until they all graduated from college. She was a true legend and mathematical genius who embodied the essence of "Black Girl Magic."īorn in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson was trained as a mathematician and physicist. Johnson received a honorary degree from the College during its 2017 Commencement ceremony. The Spelman community celebrates the life and legacy of Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson, a pioneer of the American space movement.
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