Creola Katherine Johnson (néeColeman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an Americanhuman computer whose calculations oforbital mechanics as aNASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.[1][2] During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform tasks previously requiring humans. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist".[3]
Katherine Johnson was born as Creola Katherine Coleman on August 26, 1918, inWhite Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to Joylette Roberta (née Lowe) and Joshua McKinley Coleman.[7][8][9][10] She was the youngest of four children.[11] Her mother was a teacher and her father was a lumberman, farmer, and handyman. He also worked at theGreenbrier Hotel.[8][12]
Johnson showed strong mathematical abilities from an early age. BecauseGreenbrier County did not offer public schooling for African-American students past the eighth grade, the Colemans arranged for their children to attend high school inInstitute, West Virginia. This school was on the campus ofWest Virginia State College (WVSC);[13] Johnson was enrolled when she was ten years old.[14] The family split their time between Institute during the school year and White Sulphur Springs in the summer.[15]
After graduating from high school at the age of 14, Johnson matriculated at WVSC, ahistorically black college.[16] She took every course in mathematics offered by the college. Several professors mentored her, including the chemist and mathematicianAngie Turner King, who had guided Coleman throughout high school, andW. W. Schieffelin Claytor, the third African-American to receive adoctorate in mathematics. Claytor added new mathematics courses just for Johnson.[17] She graduatedsumma cum laude in 1937, with degrees in mathematics and French, at age 18.[18][14][19] Johnson was a member ofAlpha Kappa Alpha.[20] She took on a teaching job at a black public school inMarion, Virginia.[16][21]
In 1939, after marrying her first husband, James Goble, she left her teaching job and enrolled in a graduate mathematics program. She quit at the end of the first session and chose to focus on her family life.[16] She was the first African-American woman to attend graduate school atWest Virginia University inMorgantown, West Virginia. Through WVSC's president,John W. Davis, she became one of three African-American students,[16] and the only woman, selected to integrate the graduate school after the 1938 United States Supreme Court ruling inMissouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada required States which provided public higher education to white students to provide it to black students as well, either by establishing black colleges and universities or by admitting black students to previously white-only universities.[12][22]
Career
Johnson working at the Spacecraft Controls Branch of NASA in 1966.
After her daughters grew up, she returned to teaching. In 1952, a relative mentioned that theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was hiring for their West Areacomputing section.[16] At theLangley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, based inHampton, Virginia, nearLangley Field, NACA hired African-American mathematicians as well as whites for their Guidance and Navigation Department. Johnson accepted a job offer from the agency in June 1953.[8] In order for Johnson to take the job, the family moved to Newport News.[23]
According to an oral history archived by the National Visionary Leadership Project:
At first she [Johnson] worked in a pool of women performing mathematical calculations. Katherine has referred to the women in the pool as virtual "computers who wore skirts". Their main job was to read the data from the plane's black boxes and carry out other precise mathematical tasks. Then one day, Katherine (and a colleague) were temporarily assigned to help the all-male flight research team. Katherine's knowledge ofanalytic geometry helped make quick allies of male bosses and colleagues to the extent that, "they forgot to return me to the pool". While the racial and gender barriers were always there, Katherine ignored them. Katherine was assertive, asking to be included in editorial meetings (where no women had gone before). She simply told people she had done the work and that she belonged.[8]
From 1953 to 1958, Johnson worked as acomputer,[24] performing calculations for topics like gust alleviation for aircraft. Originally assigned to theWest Area Computers section supervised by mathematicianDorothy Vaughan, Johnson was reassigned to the Guidance and Control Division of Langley's Flight Research Division. It was staffed by white male engineers.[25] In keeping with the State of Virginia's racial segregation laws, and federal workplace segregation introduced under PresidentWoodrow Wilson in the early 20th century, Johnson and the other African-American women in the computing pool were required to work, eat, and use restrooms that were in separate facilities from those of their white peers. Their office was labeled as "Colored Computers". In an interview withWHRO-TV, Johnson stated that she "didn't feel the segregation at NASA, because everybody there was doing research. You had a mission and you worked on it, and it was important to you to do your job ... and play bridge at lunch." She added: "I didn't feel any segregation. I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it."[26]
NACA disbanded the colored computing pool in 1958 when the agency was superseded by NASA, which adopted digital computers. Although the installation was desegregated,[25] forms of discrimination were still pervasive. Johnson recalled that era:
The first NASA report showing Johnson's name as co-author.[27]
We needed to be assertive as women in that days – assertive and aggressive – and the degree to which we had to be that way depended on where you were. I had to be. In the early days of NASA women were not allowed to put their names on the reports – no woman in my division had had her name on a report. I was working with Ted Skopinski and he wanted to leave and go to Houston ... but Henry Pearson, our supervisor – he was not a fan of women – kept pushing him to finish the report we were working on. Finally, Ted told him, "Katherine should finish the report, she's done most of the work anyway." So Ted left Pearson with no choice; I finished the report and my name went on it, and that was the first time a woman in our division had her name on something.[28]
From 1958 until her retirement in 1986, Johnson worked as a computer for NACA's successor, the Spacecraft Controls Branch.[1] She calculated thetrajectory for the May 5, 1961, space flight ofAlan Shepard, the first American in space.[1] She also calculated thelaunch window for his 1961Mercury mission.[29] She plotted backupnavigationcharts forastronauts in case of electronic failures.[8] When NASA used electronic computers for the first time to calculateJohn Glenn's orbit aroundEarth, officials called on Johnson to verify the computer's numbers; Glenn had asked for her specifically and had refused to fly unless Johnson verified the calculations.[1][30][31]
As a computer, she calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American in space...John Glenn requested that she personally recheck the calculations...before his flight aboard Friendship 7...on which he became the first American to orbit the Earth.
AuthorMargot Lee Shetterly stated, "So the astronaut who became a hero, looked to this black woman in the still-segregated South at the time as one of the key parts of making sure his mission would be a success." She added that, in a time when computing was "women's work" and engineering was left to men, "it really does have to do with us over the course of time sort of not valuing that work that was done by women, however necessary, as much as we might. And it has taken history to get a perspective on that."[32]
Johnson later worked directly with digitalcomputers. Her ability and reputation for accuracy helped to establish confidence in the new technology.[33] In 1961, her work helped to ensure that Alan Shepard'sFreedom 7 Mercury capsule would be found quickly after landing, using the accurate trajectory that had been established.[34]
Johnson in 2008
She also helped to calculate the trajectory for the 1969Apollo 11 flight to the Moon.[1][33] During the Moon landing, Johnson was at a meeting in thePocono Mountains. She and a few others crowded around a smalltelevision screen watching the first steps on the Moon.[1] In 1970, Johnson worked on theApollo 13 Moon mission. When the mission was aborted, her work on backup procedures and charts helped set a safe path for the crew's return to Earth,[33] creating a one-star observation system that would allow astronauts to determine their location with accuracy. In a 2010 interview, Johnson recalled, "Everybody was concerned about them getting there. We were concerned about them getting back."[34] Later in her career, Johnson worked on theSpace Shuttle program, theEarth Resources Satellite,[1][33] and on plans for ahuman mission to Mars.[35]
Katherine and James Francis Goble had three daughters. The family lived inNewport News, Virginia, from 1953. James died of an inoperablebrain tumor in 1956[37] and, three years later, Katherine married James A. "Jim" Johnson, aUnited States Army officer and veteran of theKorean War; the pair were married for 60 years until his death in March 2019 at the age of 93.[7][38][39] Johnson, who had six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, lived inHampton, Virginia.[40] She encouraged her grandchildren and students to pursue careers in science and technology.[41]
She was a member of Carver MemorialPresbyterian Church for 50 years, where she sang as part of the choir.[42]
Johnson died at a retirement home in Newport News on February 24, 2020, at age 101.[43][7] Following her death,Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, described her as "an American hero" and stated that "her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten."[44]
Johnson co-authored 26 scientific papers.[8][45] Her social influence as a pioneer inspace science andcomputing is demonstrated by the honors she received and her status as a role model for a life in science.[45][46][47][48] Johnson was named West Virginia State College Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 1999. PresidentBarack Obama presented her with thePresidential Medal of Freedom, one of 17 Americans so honored on November 24, 2015. She was cited as a pioneering example of African-American women inSTEM.[49] President Obama said at the time, "Katherine G. Johnson refused to be limited by society's expectations of her gender and race while expanding the boundaries of humanity's reach."[7] NASA noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist."[3]
Johnson in front of the Computational Research Facility named for her.
Two NASA facilities have been named in her honor. On May 5, 2016, a new 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) building was named the "Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility" and formally dedicated at the agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The facility officially opened its doors on September 22, 2017.[50][51] Johnson attended this event, which also marked the 55th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard's historic rocket launch and splashdown, a success Johnson helped achieve.[52] At the ceremony, deputy director Lewin said this about Johnson: "Millions of people around the world watched Shepard's flight, but what they didn't know at the time was that the calculations that got him into space and safely home were done by today's guest of honor, Katherine Johnson". During the event, Johnson also received aSilver Snoopy award; often called the astronaut's award, NASA stated it is given to those "who have made outstanding contributions to flight safety and mission success".[53] NASA renamed the Independent Verification and Validation Facility, in Fairmont, West Virginia, to theKatherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility on February 22, 2019.[54]
Johnson was included on theBBC's list of100 Women of influence worldwide in 2016.[55] In a 2016 video NASA stated, "Her calculations proved as critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program, as they did to those first steps on the country's journey into space."[1]
Science writerMaia Weinstock developed a prototypeLego for Women of NASA in 2016 and included Johnson; she declined to have her likeness printed on the final product.[56] On May 12, 2018, she was awarded anhonorary doctorate by theCollege of William & Mary.[57] In August 2018, West Virginia State University established a STEM scholarship in honor of Johnson and erected a life-size statue of her on campus.[58]Mattel announced aBarbie doll in Johnson's likeness with a NASA identity badge in 2018.[59] In 2019, Johnson was announced as one of the members of the inaugural class ofGovernment Executive's Government Hall of Fame.[60]
In August 2018, theDeSoto Independent School District inDeSoto, Texas opened the Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy, a kindergarten through fifth grade school offering a technology-based curriculum including robotics, coding, computer science, digital art and music.[61]
In June 2019,George Mason University named the most prominent building on their SciTech campus, the Katherine G. Johnson Hall.[62]
In 2020,Bethel School District, Washington, named its newest school the Katherine G. Johnson Elementary.[63]
In 2020 the United States Space Force named the GPS 3 Space Vehicle 8 satellite Creola Katherine Johnson.[64] It was launched into orbit on May 30, 2025.[65]
On November 2, 2020,Fairfax County Public Schools—the largest school division in the Commonwealth ofVirginia and 12th largest school division in the United States, and theCity of Fairfax, Virginia, announced that the latter's school board had voted to rename its middle school, previously named after Confederate soldier, poet, and musicianSidney Lanier to Katherine Johnson Middle School (KJMS), after 85 percent of its residents voiced their support in favor.[66]
On November 6, 2020, a satellite named after her (ÑuSat 15 or "Katherine", COSPAR 2020-079G) was launched into space. In February 2021, Northrop Grumman named itsCygnus NG-15 spacecraft to supply theInternational Space Station theSS Katherine Johnson in her honor.[67]
Sign of the Katherine Johnson Global Academy in Baltimore, Maryland
In 2021, San Juan Unified School District, in Sacramento, California, named its newest school Katherine Johnson Middle School.[68] That same year theBaltimore County Public Schools named one of its three new schools the Katherine Johnson Global Academy.[69]
Depiction in media
The filmHidden Figures, released in December 2016, was based on thenon-fiction book of the same title by Margot Lee Shetterly, which was published earlier that year. It follows Johnson and other female African-American computers (Mary Jackson andDorothy Vaughan) who worked at NASA.Taraji P. Henson plays Johnson in the film.[31] Appearing alongside Henson at the89th Academy Awards, Johnson received a standing ovation from the audience.[70] In an earlier interview, Johnson offered the following comment about the movie: "It was well done. The three leading ladies did an excellent job portraying us."[71] In a 2016 episode of theNBC seriesTimeless, titled "Space Race", she is portrayed byNadine Ellis.[72]
1971, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986: NASA Langley Research Center Special Achievement award[73]
1977,NASA Group Achievement Award presented to the Lunar Spacecraft and Operations team – for pioneering work in the field of navigation supporting the spacecraft that orbited and mapped the Moon in preparation for theApollo program[8][74]
On April 29, 2019, theUniversity of Johannesburg and its Faculty of Science conferred Johnson with the degree ofPhilosophiae Doctor Honoris causa for her pioneering role at NASA.[89][90]
^abcdefgh*Smith, Yvette (November 24, 2015)."Katherine Johnson: The Girl Who Loved to Count".NASA.Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2016.As a computer, she calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Even after NASA began using electronic computers, John Glenn requested that she personally recheck the calculations made by the new electronic computers before his flight aboard Friendship 7 – the mission on which he became the first American to orbit the Earth. She continued to work at NASA until 1986 combining her math talent with electronic computer skills. Her calculations proved as critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program, as they did to those first steps on the country's journey into space.
^abYvette Smith, ed. (November 24, 2015)."Katherine Johnson: The Girl Who Loved to Count".NASA.Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. RetrievedMarch 1, 2017.Fascinated by numbers and smart to boot, for by the time she was 10 years old, she was a high school freshman – a truly amazing feat in an era when school for African-Americans normally stopped at eighth grade for those who could indulge in that luxury. Katherine skipped several grades to graduate from high school at 14 and from college at 18.
^"Johnson".National Space Grant Foundation.Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2020.
^J. J. O'Connor; E. F. Robertson (February 2020)."Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson".School of Mathematics & Statistics University of St Andrews, UK.Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2020.
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