Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson (August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020)

Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and all other American crewed spaceflights.  During her 33-year career at NASA, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and was crucial in working out how to use computers to perform tasks. The space agency said she had a “historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist”. 

Johnson’s work included calculating trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for astronauts Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American in orbit.  She was key in working out rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon and her calculations were essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program.  She also worked on plans for a mission to Mars. Katherine was known as a “human computer” for her tremendous mathematical capability and ability to work with space trajectories with such little technology and recognition at the time. 

In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2016, she was presented with the Silver Snoopy Award by NASA astronaut Leland D. Melvin and a NASA Group Achievement Award.