NASA Trailblazer_ Katherine Johnson _ National Geographic

I liked what I was doing. I liked work. But little did I think it would go this far. Katherine Johnson. Katherine G. Johnson. Katherine Johnson. Liftoff. The clock has started. Mathematics is the basis of the whole thing. You graduated from high school at 14, college at 18. Everybody knew you had a big old brain on you by that time. I didn't know it. But you didn't know it. Math. You're either right or you're wrong. That I liked about it. She always loved numbers. The professor said, I think you'd make a good math researcher. She said, well, what's that? He said, well, that's for you to find out. That was her dream. Katherine Johnson found her way to Hampton, Virginia. And there is NASA. NASA was hiring black mathematicians. Just opened it up to women. I was finally going to find out what a research mathematician did. Those women took a seat and that changed our country. Katherine Johnson was a trailblazer. She became what was known then as a computer or a calculator or a human computer. Courage is just one of many words that describe this woman. Being the first woman in a room of all white men at a time when that was not popular. The courage to even walk in that room with your head held high. I don't think many people could do that. When I think about my experiences and those of Katherine Johnson, I am completely in awe. She overcame so much more overt prejudice, so many more challenges than I was ever faced with. In 1957, when the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite, the space race then became her job. Calculating trajectories for Mercury missions and Project Apollo. Katherine Johnson was so good at what she did. They needed her as an engineer. When they had briefings, I asked permission to go. And they said, well, the girls don't usually go. And I said, well, is there a law? I began attending the briefings and gradually I did more. When they were leaving the moon and going back, that was the part that I worried about. They should be exactly correct on that. And I was sitting there hoping I'm right too. Without mathematicians, those great moments wouldn't have happened. In her 33 years at NASA, Katherine was a pioneer who broke the barriers of race and gender. Everyone can excel in math and science and reach for the stars. Katherine often remarked that even though there were medals and awards and so many things that she received and honors, her favorite thing to receive were letters from children. Katherine Johnson has taught me not to let anyone bring me down and that women are capable of doing anything they want to do. Katherine Johnson has taught me to believe in myself and my capabilities. Katherine Johnson was an amazing African-American female mathematician who changed the world. Because of Katherine at NASA, we've embraced that diversity of thought only improves our capacity to make change both in outer space and here on Earth. Now, younger versions of myself don't have to wait until they're an adult to finally hear about her, to let her be a role model in their lives today. My problem was to answer questions and I did that to the best of my ability at all times and it was a joy.