![]() But most of the screen time belongs to Katherine's story. Mary continues to make valuable contributions to NASA's efforts, while trying to work through the catch-22 of needing additional education to become an engineer, with the only nearby school offering such classes refusing to accept any black students. Dorothy has been managing the women of the computer section for some time, but has to fight for the title and the pay – and even takes it upon herself to learn more about NASA's newly-arrived IBM computer, while understanding that doing so could eventually cost her and her co-workers their jobs. All three women make progress in their attempts to reach their goals and fulfill their potential, but with much difficulty, based on their gender and their race. Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) is an outspoken aspiring engineer who is held back from becoming an actual engineer because of her lack of education, which she has difficulty overcoming because of segregation. Henson) is a brilliant mathematician who struggles to balance the demands of her increasing responsibilities at NASA with caring for her three young daughters whose father has passed away. Dorothy Vaughn (Oscar winner Octavia Spencer) is a mathematician who is also mechanically-inclined, develops a talent for programming IBM computers and is a natural leader, but is denied a well-deserved supervisory position by NASA culture – and her supervisor (Kirsten Dunst). Back when electronic computers (with only a fraction of the capacity and speed of today's mainframes) took up an entire room – and were just beginning to be installed in places like NASA – talented mathematicians did calculations for the space program by hand. That's not to say that they worked on computers – THEY were the computers. The film is an adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly's book of the same name and follows three black women who worked in NASA's computer section in 1961. That's a lot for one movie – and might be too much for many – but "Hidden Figures" is up to the challenge. Without being too busy or too preachy, this film helps the audience better appreciate the struggles of being a minority – and a working woman (and even a mother working outside the home) – in the early 1960s, the pressure involved in competing with the Soviet Union in the early years of the space race, the difficult challenges surrounding getting man into space (and returning him safely to earth) for the first time and the courage it required of those who were willing to go. There are few ways to enhance appreciation for others more effectively than a well-made movie and the 2016 historical drama "Hidden Figures" (PG, 2:07) takes full advantage of that opportunity. It's a condition which requires information and understanding and results in increased compassion, acceptance and inclusiveness. She also worked on the space shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology. " Johnson is also known for verifying the calculations made by electronic computers of John Glenn’s 1962 launch to orbit and the 1969 Apollo 11 trajectory to the moon. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I'll do it backwards and tell you when to take off. "Early on, when they said they wanted the capsule to come down at a certain place, they were trying to compute when it should start. ![]() "The early trajectory was a parabola, and it was easy to predict where it would be at any point, " Johnson said. Johnson worked at Langley from 1953 until her retirement in 1986, making critical technical contributions which included calculating the trajectory of the 1961 flight of Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Johnson became known for her training in geometry, her leadership, and her inquisitive nature she was the only woman at the time to be pulled from the computing pool to work with engineers on other programs. ![]() ![]() Johnson began her career in 1953 at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA, one of a number of African-American women hired to work as "computers" in what was then their Guidance and Navigation Department, just as the NACA was beginning its work on space. Known as “a virtual computer who wore skirts” NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson is photographed at her desk at Langley Research Center in 1966.
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