posted 11-24-2020 07:15 PM               

Panel reviews designs for NASA's 'Hidden Figures' Congressional Gold Medals

When it comes to depicting the women mathematicians and engineers whose work helped to advance supersonic flight research and landing the first humans on the moon, do you show them as "hidden figures" or do you bring them into the light?

That was the primary question raised by a panel charged with reviewing the U.S. Mint's designs for the Hidden Figures Group Congressional Gold Medal, one of five such awards intended to recognize four specific women and the hundreds of others who served the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and NASA from the 1930s through the 1970s.

posted 09-18-2024 04:39 PM               

U.S. Mint release

Hidden Figures Bronze Medals

The Hidden Figures Bronze Medals are duplicates of the Congressional Gold Medals awarded to the women who contributed to the success of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Space Race. Public Law 116-68 (the Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act) authorizes medals for Katherine Johnson, Dr. Christine Darden, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and a fifth medal for all the women who made NASA successful.

The title "Hidden Figures" is a direct reference to the book by Margot Lee Shetterly and the film released in 2016 with the same name, and it has a double meaning. It refers to the mathematical calculations that went into the work at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (which became NASA), but also to the women who worked behind the scenes performing these calculations.

Between the 1930s and 1970s, women worked as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and NASA. These women played an integral role in projects such as aircraft testing during World War II; supersonic flight research; sending the Voyager probes to explore the solar system; and landing the first man on the Moon. They also served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. This stunning achievement turned the Space Race to the United States' favor and restored the nation's confidence.

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden worked at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. They were mathematicians and engineers who were central to the success of many of NASA's missions.

To purchase these medals, visit the U.S. Mint's online catalog.