“Forgotten Hollywood”- Out of Hiding…

Posted on June 4, 2018 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here… 

“`Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician whose calculation helped astronauts return safely to Earth, will be honored at her alma mater with a bronze statue and an annual scholarship in her name.  West Virginia State University is planning a dedication ceremony set for August 25th, the day before Johnson’s 100th birthday.

“`Long before the digital era, Johnson performed as a human computer at an agency that would become NASA, working in relative obscurity as an African-American woman. Her contributions were later recognized in  Hidden Figures, with actress Taraji P. Henson playing her role.

“`The 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik changed history and Katherine Johnson’s (right) life. In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Johnson was called upon to do the work that she would become most known for.

“`When asked to name her greatest contributions to space exploration, Johnson refers to the calculations that helped synch  Project Apollo’s Lunar Lander with a moon-orbiting Command and Service Module. She also worked on the Space Shuttle and Earth Resource Satellite, and authored or co-authored 26 research reports.

“`Katherine retired in 1986. In 2015, at age 97, President Obama awarded the mathematician a Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

“`West Virginia State hopes to endow the $100,000 scholarship, awarding the money to students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math, targeting people who are underrepresented in those fields.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2018 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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