Check Out Amazing Real Story of NASA’s Women Behind ‘’Hidden Figures’’ Movie
Hidden Figures movie was premiered in 2016. This 2 hours 7-minute film will take us to the struggles of three great women who work at NASA as mathematicians and technicians. It should be noted that the field of work in mathematics and engineering at that time was still dominated by men and minimal female intervention in it.
The film Hidden Figures presents how three women named:
- Katherine Johnson (Taraji P Henson)
- Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer)
- Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae)
that faced discrimination in the workplace because of their skin color and gender, which often hinders their potential and abilities they have.
However, thanks to their tenacity and magnificent capabilities, these three women managed to make history by proving how women can show their abilities in the STEM realm without being hindered by the discrimination they received. Here we will show you these three amazing women profiles to inspires you with their amazing career journey from the start till the end.
Katherine Johnson
The woman who was born on August 26, 1981, is a mathematical genius whose talent has been seen since childhood. After graduating from West Virginia University in 1937, Johnson began her career as a teacher. In 1953, Johnson began joining the West Area Computing section at Langley, where she began her journey as a mathematician and data analyst. Her life began to change when the Soviet Union launched its first satellite in 1957. Johnson began to actively perform flight calculations or make mathematical equations about space technology used by technicians to form the Space Task Group at NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), NASA’s predecessor.
Johnson began working on NASA staff as a mathematician to perform orbital and rocket calculations for the Mercury mission in 1961. Johnson and her colleagues succeeded in calculating the parameters of the suborbital flight performed by the first American to launch into space, Alan Shepherd, in 1961. Johnson also planned the flight trajectory of John Glenn, the first human to orbit the earth in 1962, with Mary Jackson & Dorothy Vaughan. Glenn also specifically asked Johnson to re-check the computer calculations of the estimated orbital circumference.
Johnson’s gait did not stop there, she also contributed to calculating the Apollo 11 trajectory that successfully landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969. Although Johnson’s abilities and gait looked smooth, she’s still facing some of the discriminatory treatment she received as a black woman during her career. Such as the separation of the building space from white and black employees because of the segregation law established by the United States at that time.
However, these obstacles did not prevent Johnson from contributing to providing the best for the advancement of United States space technology. Johnson’s career at NASA ended in 1986 and at the age of 97, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 by President Barack Obama. To honor Johnson’s work, NASA named one of its research facilities with Katherine G. Johnson’s name at the Langley Research Center in Hampton in 2017.
Mary Jackson
Mary graduated from Hampton University in 1942 and earned two degrees at the same time, mathematician and physical science. In 1951, Mary started working at NACA working in West Area Computing like Katherine Johnson. Two years later, Mary left West Computing to work under Kazimierz Czarnecki's technician to conduct research and experiments on wind turbine speeds. Kazimierz advised Mary to take a training program that an authorized technician could use to see Mary's good performance.
Because of the segregation law between white and black people, Mary must obtain special permission to participate in the training program. In 1958, Mary successfully followed every training program and became NASA’s first black women technician. Mary had a career as an aerospace engineer for 20 years and her contributions focus on monitoring the flow of air around a launching spacecraft. In 1979, Mary turned down promotions at the management level to focus on increasing opportunities for women and minority groups to get job promotions or become supervisors.
Dorothy Vaughan
Vaughan began her career as a teacher at Robert Russa Moton High School, Farmville. In 1943, Vaughan and his family moved to Virginia and began working as a mathematician at NACA. Vaughan works in the West Computing Area unit with her black female colleagues who are tasked with calculating mathematical calculations for technicians conducting aeronautical experiments in wind tunnels on variables that affect aircraft drag and lift.
In 1949, Vaughan was entrusted to be a supervisor in the West Area Computer unit which also worked with Mary. Through her position, Vaughan advocated for fellow black women for promotions or permanent employment. When NACA switched to NASA in 1958, Vaughan joined the Division of Computing and Analysis, was an expert in FORTRAN programming, and worked on the SCOUT (Solid Controlled Orbital Utility Test) Launch Vehicle Program, which was the most reliable and successful launch vehicle used to launch satellites of 385 pounds to a 500-mile orbit.
Those are three profiles of the great women behind the US and NASA space success. Are they your inspiration?
Written by Melisa Nirmala Dewi
References:
Biography. 2020. Dorothy Johnson Vaughan. [online] Tersedia dalam https://www.biography.com/scientist/dorothy-johnson-vaughan (Diakses pada 5 Juni 2021).
Howell, Elizabeth. 2020. NASA’s Real Hidden Figures. [online] Tersedia dalam https://www.space.com/35430-real-hidden-figures.html (Diakses pada 5 Juni 2021).
