Katherine Johnson death: Nasa mathematician portrayed in Hidden Figures film dies aged 101

Then U.S. President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NASA mathematician Katherine G. Johnson during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington November 24, 2015
REUTERS
Luke O'Reilly24 February 2020

Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who worked on Nasa’s early space missions and was portrayed in the film Hidden Figures, has died.

In a Monday morning tweet, Nasa said it celebrates her 101 years of life and her legacy of excellence and breaking down racial and social barriers.

Johnson was one of the so-called “computers” who calculated rocket trajectories and earth orbits by hand during Nasa’s early years.

Until 1958, Johnson and other black women worked in a racially segregated computing unit at what is now called Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia.

Taraji P. Henson , Octavia Spencer (R), Janelle Monae (L) and Katherine Johnson (in wheelchair) present for Best Documentary at the 89th Academy Awards
REUTERS

Their work was the focus of the Oscar-nominated 2016 film.

In 1961, Johnson worked on the first mission to carry an American into space.

In 1962, she verified computer calculations that plotted John Glenn’s earth orbits.

At age 97, Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour.

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