WASHINGTON DC, (WVDN) – On Nov. 9, NASA’s legendary mathematician, Katherine Johnson, will be honored (posthumously) by the San Diego Air & Space Museum International Air & Space Hall of Fame in the Edwin D. McKellar Pavilion of Flight. Other honorees include Bell, Blake Scholl, International Council of Air Shows (ICAS), Stephen Altemus, Laurans “Larry” Mendelson, Salvatore T. “Tory” Bruno, and the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Since 1963, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame has honored the world’s most significant pilots, crew members, visionaries, inventors, aerospace engineers, business leaders, preservationists, designers, and space explorers.
Katherine Johnson was nominated for the International Air & Space Hall of Fame by “The Last Episode: Veterans For Social Justice (VFSJ),” a music group of African American U.S. Army Veterans who dedicated a special music tribute (now officially released) to Katherine Johnson and the Human-Computer Women titled, “Has Anybody Seen Katherine Johnson.” VFSJ’s goal is to ensure that never again will the story about their historic contributions to America’s space program be a hidden story. It took five years for Katherine Johnson and the “Hidden Figures” computer women of NASA to finally receive their long overdue Congressional Gold Medals authorized back in 2019 by the Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act. The gold medals presentation ceremony was held on Sept. 18, in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The lost story of NASA’s African American women human computers was finally brought to light thanks to the landmark book, “Hidden Figures,” by Margot Lee Shetterly, and the subsequent movie by the same name. Known as the Woman of the 20th Century, Katherine Johnson’s unprecedented mathematical calculations of orbital mechanics, calculating trajectories, at NASA were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S.-crewed spaceflights, including for the Apollo missions. Her contributions to the space program were extremely instrumental to its success (including her mathematical brilliance against electronic computers) and led to ultimately helping the U.S. win the Space Race against the Soviet Union (now Russia) – from Alan Shepard’s historic first flight to John Glenn’s orbits in 1962, to the calculation of the trajectory for the historic first successful crewed 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing and subsequent Apollo missions, to the Space Shuttle program and to the Earth Resources Satellite. Even after her passing on Feb. 24, 2020, at the age of 101, Katherine Johnson’s work is still used to further the success of space exploration to this day!
The Katherine Johnson and Hidden Figures story is hidden no more – first the book, then the movie, and now, finally the music – “Has Anybody Seen Katherine Johnson” – to forever capture their rightful place in history!
