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Author Topic:   Katherine Johnson, NASA 'human computer'
Robert Pearlman
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posted 11-16-2015 09:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
President Barack Obama on Monday (Nov. 16, 2015) named seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The awards will be presented at the White House on November 24th.
Among the honorees this year are Yogi Berra, Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and, of note to this site, Katherine Johnson.
Katherine G. Johnson is a pioneer in American space history. A NASA mathematician, Johnson's computations have influenced every major space program from Mercury through the Shuttle program.

Johnson was hired as a research mathematician at the Langley Research Center with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA, after they opened hiring to African-Americans and women. Johnson exhibited exceptional technical leadership and is known especially for her calculations of the 1961 trajectory for Alan Shepard's flight (first American in space), the 1962 verification of the first flight calculation made by an electronic computer for John Glenn's orbit (first American to orbit the earth), and the 1969 Apollo 11 trajectory to the moon.

In her later NASA career, Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology fields.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 11-24-2015 03:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
NASA Statements on Katherine Johnson's Medal of Freedom

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about former NASA mathematician and physicist Katherine Johnson being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Tuesday:

"Katherine Johnson once remarked that even though she grew up in the height of segregation, she didn't think much about it because 'I didn't have time for that… don't have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I'm as good as anybody, but no better.'

"The truth in fact, is that Katherine is indeed better. She's one of the greatest minds ever to grace our agency or our country, and because of the trail she blazed, young Americans like my granddaughters can pursue their own dreams without a feeling of inferiority.

"Katherine's legacy is a big part of the reason that my fellow astronauts and I were able to get to space; it's also a big part of the reason that today there is space for women and African-Americans in the leadership of our nation, including the White House.

"The entire NASA family is both proud of and grateful to Katherine Johnson, a true American pioneer who helped our space program advance to new heights, while advancing humanity's march of progress ever forward."

The following is a statement from NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman:

"The reach of Katherine Johnson's leadership and impact extends from classrooms across America all the way to the moon. Katherine once remarked that while many of her colleagues refrained from asking questions or taking tasks further than merely 'what they were told to do,' she chose instead to ask questions because she 'wanted to know why.'

"For Katherine, finding the 'why' meant enrolling in high school at the age of 10; calculating the trajectory of Alan Shepherd's trip to space and the Apollo 11's mission to the moon; and providing the foundation that will someday allow NASA to send our astronauts to Mars. She literally wrote the textbook on rocket science.

"We are all so fortunate that Katherine insisted on asking questions, and insisted on relentlessly pursing the answers. We are fortunate that when faced with the adversity of racial and gender barriers, she found the courage to say 'tell them I'm coming.' We are also fortunate that Katherine has chosen to take a leading role in encouraging young people to pursue education in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math.

"Katherine was born on National Equality Day. Few Americans have embodied the true spirit of equity as profoundly or impacted the cause of human exploration so extensively. At NASA, we are proud to stand on Katherine Johnson's shoulders."

Robert Pearlman
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posted 05-05-2016 04:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE
NASA names facility for 'human computer' who calculated astronaut trajectories

Fifty-five years after she helped compute, by hand, the trajectory for the first American astronaut into space, NASA honored mathematician Katherine Johnson with the dedication of a new building at the research center where she worked.

"Millions of people from around the world watched [Alan] Shepard's flight but what they don't know — what they did not know at the time, was that the calculations that got him into space and safely home were done by today's guest of honor," said Clayton Turner, the deputy director of Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, during a dedication ceremony held on Thursday (May 5).

A trailblazer for women and African Americans in the early U.S. space program, Johnson's name will grace Langley's new Computational Research Facility.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 09-22-2017 08:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
NASA Langley's Katherine Johnson Computational Research Facility Officially Opens

When she heard that NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, would name its newest building after her, Katherine Johnson responded the only way she could – with surprise.

"You want my honest answer? I think they're crazy," the 99-year-old Johnson, of "Hidden Figures" fame, said with a laugh.

The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility, or CRF, was dedicated Sept. 22 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by family and friends of Johnson and her fellow "human computers," students from Black Girls Code and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, and special guests from across Virginia.

"You have been a trailblazer," Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said during the ceremony. "When I think of Virginia and the history of what we've gone through … you're at the top of that list."

Johnson held a fascination with numbers as a girl growing up in West Virginia. Eventually, she translated that love into using her math skills to help advance the nation's space program in the 1960s.

"I like the stars, and the stories we were telling, and it was a joy to contribute to the literature that was going to come out," said Johnson, the central character in the book and movie "Hidden Figures." "But little did I think it would go this far."

"We're here to honor the legacy of one of the most admired and inspirational people ever associated with NASA," said Langley Director David Bowles. "I can't imagine a better tribute to Mrs. Johnson's character and accomplishments than this building that will bear her name."

State of the art

The CRF is a state-of-the-art facility that will enable innovative research and development supporting NASA's missions. It is the third building in Langley's 20-year revitalization plan.

"I always like something new," Johnson said of the facility. "It gives credit to everybody who helped."

The $23-million, 37,000-square-foot (3,437 square-meter) structure is consolidating four Langley data centers. The building incorporates energy-saving features that are expected to be 33 percent more efficient than if those features had not been included.

The significance of the facility is that it advances Langley's capabilities in modeling and simulation, big data and analysis. Powerful computers like those in the CRF are capable of ever more complex analysis and simulation, in some cases replacing but also validating and complimenting the research done in NASA's labs and wind tunnels. The CRF also houses an office area for researchers to do their work.

"We know that these are the tools that will help shape the world of the future," Bowles said. "We'll do more calculations that ever, and we'll do them faster, more efficiently and with greater reliability."

Johnson was a "human computer" at Langley who calculated trajectories for America's first spaceflights. She worked at Langley from 1953 until retiring in 1986. Her contributions and those of other NASA African-American human computers are chronicled in "Hidden Figures," based on author Margot Lee Shetterly's book of the same name. After Johnson's story began to emerge, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by then-President Barack Obama at the White House in 2015.

The backstory

In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Johnson was called on to do the work that she would become most known for. The complexity of the orbital flight had required the construction of a worldwide communications network, linking tracking stations around the world to computers in Washington, Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Bermuda.

The computers had been programmed with orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in Glenn's Friendship 7 mission, from blast off to splashdown, but the astronauts were wary of putting their lives in the care of the electronic calculating machines, which were prone to hiccups and blackouts.

As a part of the preflight checklist, Glenn asked engineers to "get the girl" — Johnson — to run the same numbers through the same equations that had been programmed into the computer, but by hand, on her desktop mechanical calculating machine.

"If she says they're good," Johnson remembers Glenn saying, "then I'm ready to go." Glenn's flight was a success, and marked a turning point in the competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in space.

Breaking down barriers

"Thank goodness for the book and movie to come out so people got to understand what this woman meant to our country," Gov. McAuliffe said. "She really broke down the barriers."

Shetterly, the ceremony's keynote speaker, praised Johnson and fellow human computers Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan as being revolutionary by just doing their jobs. "We are living in a present that they willed into existence with their pencils, their slide rules, their mechanical calculating machines — and, of course, their brilliant minds."

Shetterly said the path to the future is rarely predictable, smooth or direct – and Johnson's was no exception.

"At every fork, her talent, her hard work and her character pulled her toward her destiny," she said. "At every turn, she made a choice to become the protagonist in her own story and then of ours."

Shetterly said Johnson's story is one of a thirst for knowledge and a celebration of teamwork.

"Telling your story has been an honor," she said. "You work changed our history and your history has changed our future."

Johnson, who received four standing ovations at the ceremony, happily recalls her time at Langley, saying that her job was to just answer questions to the best of her ability at all times, whether she got them correct or not.

"I didn't do anything alone but to try to get to the root of the question – and succeeded there," she said.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-26-2018 10:05 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA video
On Aug. 26, as part of NASA's celebration of Katherine Johnson's 100th birthday, agency employees received a special message from administrator Jim Bridenstine to mark the occasion.

With slide rules and pencils, Katherine, a legendary NASA mathematician — and the other human computers who worked at the agency — helped our nation's space program get off the ground, but it was their confidence, bravery and commitment to excellence that broke down racial and social barriers that continue to inspire to this day.

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-26-2018 05:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
West Virginia State University release
West Virginia State University Dedicates Statue, Scholarship to Katherine Johnson

West Virginia State University dedicated a scholarship and unveiled a statue today, Saturday, Aug. 25, honoring NASA mathematician and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Katherine Johnson.

An estimated crowd of more than 600 attended the ceremony, which featured remarks from NASA astronaut Dr. Yvonne Cagle as well as Johnson's daughters, Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore, and WVSU President Anthony L. Jenkins.

"It is my hope that my daughters and all of my students at West Virginia State University see this monument as an example of what they can accomplish when they dedicate themselves, work towards a greater cause and remain cognizant of their own strength and always seek to do better, be better and want better," said President Jenkins.

The life-sized bronze statue depicting Johnson during her years as a mathematician at NASA was created by West Virginia sculptor Frederick Hightower, an alumnus of WVSU. During Saturday's ceremony, six of Johnson's grandchildren pulled back the veil to reveal the statue. The statue stands between Cole Complex and Dawson Hall on WVSU's campus.

Prior to the unveiling of the statue, an endowed scholarship in Johnson's name was also dedicated and the first two scholarship recipients were recognized. Jasiaha Daniels, a freshman from Charleston, W.Va., majoring biology, and Alexis Scudero, a freshman from Gandeeville, W.Va., majoring in computer science, were named as the first two scholarship recipients.

The scholarship will build upon Johnson's legacy as a pioneer in mathematics and will benefit West Virginia students majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with emphasis on assisting talented individuals who are underrepresented in those fields.

Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, the highest award that can be bestowed upon a civilian. A native of White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Johnson first came to Institute at the age of 10 to attend the high school that used to be part of West Virginia State's campus. After graduating from high school at age 15, she immediately enrolled for college classes at West Virginia State. Johnson excelled in her studies and graduated summa cum laude in 1937 at the age of 18 with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and French.

Johnson's pioneering work as a "computer" at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and later at NASA, has been widely recognized following publication of the book, "Hidden Figures," and by the movie of the same name.

MarylandSpace
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posted 08-26-2018 05:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MarylandSpace   Click Here to Email MarylandSpace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Nice continuation to the Katherine Johnson story and legacy. Katherine Johnson is a neat person and great role model for all.

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