📐 MATHEMATICS
Katherine Johnson · Life in Weeks
A pioneering NASA mathematician whose orbital mechanics calculations were essential to the success of the first U.S. crewed spaceflights. She broke racial and gender barriers in the segregated aerospace industry.
Katherine Johnson: 5,296 weeks
Each box represents one week. Lived weeks Key milestones
Key Milestones
Graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia State College
Joined NACA (later NASA) as a 'human computer' at Langley
Calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 spaceflight
Performed calculations for the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Died peacefully in Newport News, Virginia
Legacy
Calculated the trajectories for Alan Shepard's 1961 flight and John Glenn's 1962 orbital mission, who specifically requested she verify the computer's math. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2015.
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