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