Meet The Human Computer That Helped NASA Reach The Moon (VIDEO)

Did you know that a Black woman named Katherine Johnson calculated the paths of NASA’s rocket ships using a slide rule and a pencil? We all need to know about Katherine Johnson. Fortunately, a book about her life is coming out this fall, and a movie about her will be out in January.

Johnson was born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. A sponge for learning, she loved everything to do with numbers. She started high school at ten and graduated at 14. Johnson graduated from West Virginia State College at 18 and became a math teacher, one of the few options for women in the 1930s.

A Human Computer

In the early 1950s, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) hired black (and white) women to perform calculations that the engineers needed. These workers were called “human computers.” The government separated the races at work. The agency hired women because women were supposedly better at detail work and could handle the small buttons on calculators more easily. Johnson began work in the Guidance and Control Branch in 1953.

She distinguished herself by asking questions. Eventually, she was brought onto the team that planned space launches.

Calculating the Parabola for Shepherd’s Landing

Johnson’s specialty was geometry. When the space agency, which was now NASA, planned Alan Shepherd’s flight to orbit the earth, it needed to calculate the path from launch to landing. Johnson told the team that the path was a parabola. “You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I’ll do it backwards and tell you when to take off.”

Confirming the Machine’s Calculations

By the time John Glenn orbited the earth, NASA had adopted electronic computers. But some people weren’t completely sure that the machines would make the calculations correctly. John Glenn insisted that Katherine Johnson verify them. And she did, using a pencil and a slide rule.

Johnson also calculated the flight paths for the 1969 moon landing. And she helped get the Apollo 13 team safely back to earth.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

In November 2015, President Obama awarded Johnson the Medal of Freedom for her contributions to the space program. The award is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

 

 

Michelle Oxman is a writer, blogger, wedding officiant, and recovering attorney. She lives just north of Chicago with her husband, son, and two cats. She is interested in human rights, election irregularities, access to health care, race relations, corporate power, and family life.Her personal blog appears at www.thechangeuwish2c.com. She knits for sanity maintenance.