Chapter 1: The Hidden Figures of NASA

The narratives of black women at NASA were once concealed so deeply that it was astonishing when they finally emerged into the public eye.

Photo: NASA/Donaldson Collection/Getty Images

By Marina Koren

In 1958, shortly after the significant launch of Sputnik, American engineers were intensely focused on space exploration. Daily, the engineers at Langley Research Center in Virginia grappled with orbital mechanics, rocket propulsion, and the intricate process of leaving Earth—all in a bid to catch up with the Soviet Union. Katherine Johnson's role involved preparing the essential equations and charts for these endeavors, yet she was initially barred from the discussions where such matters were addressed.

“Why can’t I attend the editorial meetings?” Johnson inquired, as Margot Lee Shetterly notes in her book, Hidden Figures.

“Girls aren’t allowed at the meetings,” her male coworkers responded.

“Is there a law against it?” she retorted, recalling past laws that prohibited black individuals from sharing facilities with white individuals. However, Johnson had already disregarded such rules at work and persistently pressed for access to the meetings. Eventually, the engineers, weary of her persistence, allowed her in, and she far exceeded those initial boundaries.

Johnson, who passed away at 101, dedicated over three decades to NASA, providing intricate calculations for some of the nation’s landmark missions, from the first ventures into space to the historic lunar landing.

While Johnson's remarkable abilities and contributions are well-documented today, for much of her life, she remained unrecognized—until Shetterly published her book in 2016, inspiring a blockbuster film. For the first time, many learned about Johnson and how she forged her path in American space exploration. The book detailed the experiences of Johnson and other black female mathematicians who served as “computers” at Langley, employing pencils and slide rules to calculate vital equations for the nascent NASA.

The scientific community is notorious for its frustrating tendency to overlook significant figures who are not white or male. The accounts of these women, in particular, were so deeply buried in history that when Shetterly unearthed them, it felt revolutionary. In her late 90s, Johnson finally received the recognition she deserved—widely and emphatically—for her role in one of the most celebrated achievements of the 20th century.

She was inundated with media attention, had buildings named after her, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Despite this overdue recognition, she remained unfazed. “It’s nothing special—I was just doing my job,” she told the Washington Post in 2017. “They needed information, and I provided it; it was merely a question and an answer.”

Born on August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to a schoolteacher and a farmer, Johnson exhibited exceptional mathematical aptitude from a young age. By the age of 13, she was already attending classes at West Virginia State College, where she later graduated. She briefly enrolled at West Virginia University to pursue a master’s degree in mathematics, becoming one of the first black students in the program, before leaving to raise a family. At the time, she was teaching at a public school for black students in Virginia when she learned about job openings at Langley’s team of human computers, led by another black mathematician, Dorothy Vaughan.

Johnson joined Langley in 1953. In an environment like Langley, any woman would have encountered sexism; Johnson and her peers also faced the racism prevalent during that era. While the sign designating where "colored computers" could sit had been removed by the time she arrived, signs indicating separate restrooms remained. Johnson remained focused on her work. “She didn’t ignore the racism that existed,” Shetterly wrote. “But she didn’t allow it to dominate her experience. She wished it away, willing it out of her daily existence.”

By 1958, the year NASA was officially established, Johnson had earned a reputation for her meticulous attention to detail. As engineers contemplated the requirements for sending the first American beyond the edge of space, she stepped forward to assist behind the scenes. “Tell me where you want the man to land, and I’ll tell you where to launch him,” Johnson told her superior. She subsequently calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard’s capsule from liftoff to its Atlantic Ocean splashdown in 1961.

The following year, she was called upon again for John Glenn’s mission, the first American to orbit Earth. This time, the journey’s equations had been programmed into computers, but Glenn was apprehensive about entrusting his life to this new technology. He requested that the engineers ask Johnson to manually verify the calculations before the flight. They were accurate. “If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go,” he stated.

As the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union intensified, Johnson was instrumental in synchronizing the Apollo 11 mission's lander, which touched down on the moon, and the command module, which orbited the moon while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored its surface. Without her contributions, the first astronauts on the moon might not have found their way back.

Shetterly learned of these and other stories of black mathematicians from her father, who worked as a scientist at Langley. In her early research for the book, she shared some of her findings with NASA history experts. “They encouraged what they considered a valuable addition to the body of knowledge, though some questioned the significance of the narrative. ‘How many women are we talking about? Five or six?’” Shetterly recalls them saying. By the time she completed her book, she had identified nearly 50 black women who worked as computers, mathematicians, engineers, or scientists at the Langley facility between 1943 and 1980, believing that “20 more names could be uncovered with further research.”

While Johnson and her group of “computers” did not receive the recognition they deserved during the height of the space race, their contributions have become integral to the mythology of American space exploration. Their story serves as a crucial lesson in how history is recorded—who is included and who is excluded. Johnson’s legacy extends beyond the equations that helped propel astronauts into space and back to Earth; her story also highlights those who remain unacknowledged in the narratives America shares about its achievements. If Johnson and her peers are remembered, yet future “hidden figures” stay concealed, then we have not honored her legacy adequately.

Chapter 2: Remembering Katherine Johnson

The first video, "Daughters Of NASA Trailblazer Katherine Johnson Remember Her Legacy," explores the profound impact Johnson had on her family and the field of space exploration.

The second video, "NASA Langley Remembers Hidden Figure Katherine G. Johnson (1918-2020)," commemorates Johnson's life and her groundbreaking contributions to NASA.