Black Women Mathematicians Receive Congressional Medals for Space Program Work
2024-09-20
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1The United States Congress has honored four women known as the "hidden figures" of the space race with its highest civilian award.
2The Congressional Gold Medal was presented Wednesday to the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden at the U.S. Capitol. Only Darden is still living.
3The 82-year-old watched the ceremony from her Connecticut home.
4Lawmakers recognized the four Black mathematicians for their critical work early in the space program.
5They also presented a medal to all the women who worked as mathematicians, engineers and "human computers" in the American space program from the 1930s to 1970s.
6Margot Lee Shetterly wrote the 2016 book Hidden Figures about the Black women mathematicians who supported the space program in the 1960s.
7It was made into a movie of the same name in 2017.
8"By honoring them, we honor the very best of our country's spirit," Shetterly said at the ceremony.
9The early space program employed hundreds of women to work as mathematicians at what is now NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia.
10But, the Black mathematicians were not permitted to work with the white mathematicians because of racial separation policies at the time.
11The Black researchers' work went unrecognized for years.
12The team used pencils, slide rulers and mechanical calculating machines to calculate the paths of rockets and orbiters in the atmosphere and in space. The path is called the trajectory.
13"Our office computed all the trajectories," Katherine Johnson told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in 2012.
14"You tell me when and where you want it to come down, and I will tell you where and when and how to launch it," she explained.
15In 1961, Johnson did trajectory research for the Freedom 7 Mission, the first to carry an American into space.
16The next year, she checked the calculations made by a new NASA computer for astronaut John Glenn's planned orbits around the planet.
17John Glenn did not trust the new computer.
18Days before the launch, he told NASA, "Get the girl to check the numbers."
19John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962.
20Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 - the nation's highest civilian honor.
21Her work at NASA helped open doors for many other women to take part in the space program.
22Dorothy Vaughan rose to become NASA's first Black female supervisor.
23Mary Jackson was NASA's first Black female engineer.
24And Christine Darden is best known for her sonic boom research.
25I'm Jill Robbins.
1The United States Congress has honored four women known as the "hidden figures" of the space race with its highest civilian award. 2The Congressional Gold Medal was presented Wednesday to the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden at the U.S. Capitol. Only Darden is still living. The 82-year-old watched the ceremony from her Connecticut home. 3Lawmakers recognized the four Black mathematicians for their critical work early in the space program. 4They also presented a medal to all the women who worked as mathematicians, engineers and "human computers" in the American space program from the 1930s to 1970s. 5Margot Lee Shetterly wrote the 2016 book Hidden Figures about the Black women mathematicians who supported the space program in the 1960s. It was made into a movie of the same name in 2017. 6"By honoring them, we honor the very best of our country's spirit," Shetterly said at the ceremony. 7The early space program employed hundreds of women to work as mathematicians at what is now NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. But, the Black mathematicians were not permitted to work with the white mathematicians because of racial separation policies at the time. The Black researchers' work went unrecognized for years. 8The team used pencils, slide rulers and mechanical calculating machines to calculate the paths of rockets and orbiters in the atmosphere and in space. The path is called the trajectory. 9"Our office computed all the trajectories," Katherine Johnson told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in 2012. "You tell me when and where you want it to come down, and I will tell you where and when and how to launch it," she explained. 10In 1961, Johnson did trajectory research for the Freedom 7 Mission, the first to carry an American into space. The next year, she checked the calculations made by a new NASA computer for astronaut John Glenn's planned orbits around the planet. 11John Glenn did not trust the new computer. Days before the launch, he told NASA, "Get the girl to check the numbers." John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. 12Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 - the nation's highest civilian honor. Her work at NASA helped open doors for many other women to take part in the space program. 13Dorothy Vaughan rose to become NASA's first Black female supervisor. Mary Jackson was NASA's first Black female engineer. And Christine Darden is best known for her sonic boom research. 14I'm Jill Robbins. 15Adithi Ramakrishnan reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 16_________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18figure - n. a digit representing an amount (as of money earned or points scored) also, a bodily shape or form especially of a person 19calculate - v. to find (a number, answer, or the like) by using mathematical processes 20sonic boom - n. a loud explosive noise caused by the shock wave from an aircraft traveling faster than the speed of sound. 21What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section.