Katherine Johnson has passed at the age of 101.
February 24, 2020 10:19 AM Subscribe
NASA announced this morning that "Hidden Figures" computer Katherine Johnson has passed away. Katherine Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, WV, August 26 1918, and worked for NACA (later NASA) as one of their top "Computers" from 1953-1986. In addition to her work on the Mercury program that was highlighted in the movie Hidden Figures she worked on the Apollo program, LANDSAT, the Space Shuttle, and authored 26 research reports.
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posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 10:27 AM on February 24, 2020
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posted by bile and syntax at 10:37 AM on February 24, 2020
posted by bile and syntax at 10:37 AM on February 24, 2020
One of the greatest of the space race. Went to the movie with my daughter & she pretty much cried through the whole thing. What a story she had.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:38 AM on February 24, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:38 AM on February 24, 2020 [5 favorites]
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posted by haiku warrior at 11:14 AM on February 24, 2020
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So glad she lived to see public appreciation of her incredible accomplishments.
posted by sallybrown at 11:20 AM on February 24, 2020 [11 favorites]
So glad she lived to see public appreciation of her incredible accomplishments.
posted by sallybrown at 11:20 AM on February 24, 2020 [11 favorites]
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posted by smangosbubbles at 11:37 AM on February 24, 2020
posted by smangosbubbles at 11:37 AM on February 24, 2020
If the Twitter link won't load: NASA page, WaPo obit, CNN obit, Space.com obit.
NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, whose real-life experience as an African American "human computer" was depicted in the 2016 movie "Hidden Figures," is among the first three historical figures to be honored in Barbie's "Inspiring Women" doll series. (Space.com, March 6, 2018)
More on NASA's "hidden figures" at Scientific American (January 24, 2017, via space.com) & Smithsonian Mag (Sept. 8, 2016)
Katherine Johnson Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom (NASA.gov, Nov. 24, 2015)
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:38 AM on February 24, 2020 [6 favorites]
NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, whose real-life experience as an African American "human computer" was depicted in the 2016 movie "Hidden Figures," is among the first three historical figures to be honored in Barbie's "Inspiring Women" doll series. (Space.com, March 6, 2018)
More on NASA's "hidden figures" at Scientific American (January 24, 2017, via space.com) & Smithsonian Mag (Sept. 8, 2016)
Katherine Johnson Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom (NASA.gov, Nov. 24, 2015)
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:38 AM on February 24, 2020 [6 favorites]
Thanks, Iris.
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posted by BZArcher at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Strange Interlude at 11:48 AM on February 24, 2020
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posted by Lynsey at 12:41 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Lynsey at 12:41 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Loved this tweet: Katherine Johnson was a badass mathematician to the very end, waiting until age 101 so she would die in her prime
posted by toastyk at 12:52 PM on February 24, 2020 [26 favorites]
posted by toastyk at 12:52 PM on February 24, 2020 [26 favorites]
"They asked Katherine Johnson for the moon, and she gave it to them.
Wielding little more than a pencil, a slide rule and one of the finest mathematical minds in the country, Mrs. Johnson, who died at 101 on Monday at a retirement home in Newport News, Va., calculated the precise trajectories that would let Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969 and, after Neil Armstrong’s history-making moonwalk, let it return to Earth."
posted by chris24 at 1:04 PM on February 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
Wielding little more than a pencil, a slide rule and one of the finest mathematical minds in the country, Mrs. Johnson, who died at 101 on Monday at a retirement home in Newport News, Va., calculated the precise trajectories that would let Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969 and, after Neil Armstrong’s history-making moonwalk, let it return to Earth."
posted by chris24 at 1:04 PM on February 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
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posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:38 PM on February 24, 2020
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:38 PM on February 24, 2020
What an amazing human being and what an amazing contribution she made.
As a child in the 70s I was fascinated by space and NASA and it wasn't until literally decades later that I found out about her and her cohort and was quite shocked that this wasn't more general knowledge.
At least she got the recognition she deserved while she was still alive.
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 10:49 PM on February 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
As a child in the 70s I was fascinated by space and NASA and it wasn't until literally decades later that I found out about her and her cohort and was quite shocked that this wasn't more general knowledge.
At least she got the recognition she deserved while she was still alive.
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 10:49 PM on February 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by photoelectric at 2:08 AM on February 29, 2020
posted by photoelectric at 2:08 AM on February 29, 2020
Dr. Mae Jemison on Katherine Johnson
"Katherine Johnson was a revelation. An inspiration. But she was not a “one-off” to be put on a shelf and admired for her singular genius. She was representative of the deep well of talent and potential that is so often buried by lack of opportunity, access, exposure and expectation for women and particularly women of color in science and technical fields.
"She was a beacon who heralded the contributions made by women that were hidden and stymied by the deep institutional and societal bias that accredits achievements to white men, deemed by society to be the unique holders of genius.
"Johnson today is a balm for the discomfort that arises when you stand up in a crowd — a crowd that doubts your capabilities due only to your gender or race — and press a point, disagree with a widely held premise or challenge the sugar coating of facts meant to make the powerful feel better while disregarding the less powerful, who need the truth revealed."
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:09 AM on March 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Katherine Johnson was a revelation. An inspiration. But she was not a “one-off” to be put on a shelf and admired for her singular genius. She was representative of the deep well of talent and potential that is so often buried by lack of opportunity, access, exposure and expectation for women and particularly women of color in science and technical fields.
"She was a beacon who heralded the contributions made by women that were hidden and stymied by the deep institutional and societal bias that accredits achievements to white men, deemed by society to be the unique holders of genius.
"Johnson today is a balm for the discomfort that arises when you stand up in a crowd — a crowd that doubts your capabilities due only to your gender or race — and press a point, disagree with a widely held premise or challenge the sugar coating of facts meant to make the powerful feel better while disregarding the less powerful, who need the truth revealed."
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:09 AM on March 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
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