Meet the real women behind Hidden Figures.

In the early days of the Space Race, Dorothy Vaughan headed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA) West Area Computing unit. It was an important but segregated unit of mostly female mathematicians doing aerospace calculations by hand. When NACA became NASA in 1958, the Analysis and Computation Division desegregated and Vaughan became a sought-after expert on FORTRAN  – a programming language used on IBM mainframes.

Vaughan is one of the women whose work inspired the film Hidden Figures — a true story of three African American mathematicians who helped NASA launch the first Americans into space.

Feeling inspired? See how coding might figure into your life. Uncover more about Dorothy Vaughan →

7 years ago

Meet the real women behind Hidden Figures.  

Mary Jackson’s unbelievable career trajectory saw her go from math teacher, to human computer, to aeronautical engineer. During the 1950s it’s likely she was the only black female in her field. When she made the transition to NASA in 1958, her research on aerodynamics and early IBM technology would help launch the first man into space.  

Jackson is one of the women whose work inspired the film Hidden Figures — a true story of three African American mathematicians who helped NASA launch the first Americans into space.

Feeling inspired? See how engineering might figure into your life. Uncover more about Mary Jackson →

7 years ago

Meet the real women behind Hidden Figures.

Before electronic computers were common, NASA hired mathematicians like Katherine Johnson to do the computing. Even after NASA began using IBM computers to plan its missions, Astronaut John Glenn trusted Johnson’s abilities so much that he personally requested she recheck the computer calculations that helped him become the first American to orbit the Earth.

Johnson is one of the women whose work inspired the film Hidden Figures — the true story of three African American mathematicians who helped NASA launch the first Americans into space.  

Feeling inspired? See how math might figure into your life. Uncover more about Katherine Johnson →

7 years ago