During the early days of space exploration, one mathematician played a critical role in helping the United States reach space: Katherine Johnson.

Johnson worked at NASA during the height of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a mathematician, she calculated flight paths, launch windows, and landing coordinates for early space missions. At the time, both racial segregation and gender discrimination were common in the United States. Johnson was an African American woman working in a field that was mostly dominated by white men, but despite these barriers, her extraordinary math skills quickly earned the respect of the engineers and astronauts she worked with.

One of her most important contributions came during the Friendship 7 mission when Astronaut John Glenn specifically asked Johnson to double-check the computer’s calculations before his flight into orbit. At the time, astronauts trusted her math more than the new computers being used by NASA.

Johnson continued working on many other important missions, including calculations related to the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Her work helped ensure astronauts could travel safely to space and back to Earth.

Today, Katherine Johnson is remembered as one of the most influential mathematicians in space history. Her story also became widely known through the book and movie Hidden Figures, which highlighted the achievements of women whose contributions had long gone unrecognized.