Last Monday, at 101 years old, Katherine Johnson passed away. She was one of the history making, barrier-breaking NASA mathmeticians that you might have recognized from “Hidden Figures”. Johnson was revolutionary in that she opened doors for women and people of color through her immense successes in helping the U.S. space program explore the new frontiers. In the film “Hidden Figures”, depicting the trailblazing black women who were integral to the space race, Johnson was played by Taraji P. Henson. Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan died in 2005 and 2008, some of the other original “Hidden Figures”.
Johnson started working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1953 in Virginia, which eventually evolved into NASA. Johnson said that her greatest contribution to space exploration was making "the calculations that helped sync Project Apollo's Lunar Lander with the moon-orbiting Command and Service Module." In other words, helping to put men on the moon in 1969. She was the first woman in the Flight Research Division to get credit as an author of a research report for her work that explained the equations necessary for an orbital spaceflight. She did trajectory analysis for the 1961 Freedom 7, the first human spaceflight, and was known for her work on the first American orbital spaceflight. She worked for NASA for more than three decades before retiring in 1986. Katherine Johnson had immense courage throughout her life, and accomplished milestones in the space progress that wouldn’t have been reached without her. To quote NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, “her story and her grace continue to inspire the world”.
I think people like Johnson are necessary for societal advancement. When women and people of color to have intelligent, successful role models more people get involved in the field and become passionate about the topic. Having someone to look up to and take inspiration from is a huge motivator and will help unite unique minds to find solutions to societal issues and discover new things.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Johnson has definitely inspired many girls to break into STEM. While the gender ratio in STEM is improving, we still have work to do. In my AP Physics C class of over 30 students, there are only four girls. This is unacceptable. I think we need to continue celebrating female role models in STEM, like Johnson, and trying to get girls excited about STEM.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Johnson has made a huge impact on girls all over the world. Her immense success has inspired many people to go into STEM fields. Without these women pioneering, it would be so much harder for women today to be successful in fields where men are dominant. Johnson made it possible to be successful in her field while also being a woman, which was probably very difficult in her time. She probably faced many setbacks from her male counterparts, but if she hadn't continued to work hard, she wouldn't be who she is.
ReplyDeleteI think its important to break the gender stereotypes of people in the STEM workforce. Agreeing with Portia, without these women being successful at their jobs it would not inspire young girls to be in that work force. I know if I was interested in STEM myself, I would personally not want to enter that field knowing I might be the only girl. Katherine Johnson is a huge role model and should be remembered not only for being a fabulous woman figure, but an overall stem figure not being constrained to her gender.
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