NASA physicist and mathematician Katherine Johnson passed away on February 24, 2020. The 101-year-old African American woman was a1figure, who played a significant part in the early successes of the U. S.2program.
Her story was barely3to the public until 2016, when a movie called Hidden Figures was 4. It follows the lives of Johnson and two other great African American women.
With5but a pencil and a slide rule, Johnson6the exact flight paths for the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon in 1969.
“We're7by the passing of celebrated mathematician Katherine Johnson. Today, we8her 101 years of life and9her legacy of excellence that10racial and social barriers, ” NASA posted on social media.
Johnson11 high school at the age of 10 and graduated at 14. The following year she entered West Virginia State College. By her junior year, she had taken every math course the school had to offer. She finished college in 1937 with a double12in French and mathematics. In 1939, Johnson and two other13students became the first three African American students selected for a graduate program at West Virginia University, an14school in Morgantown. Then she had her15at NASA, from 1953 to 1986.
