The brain behind Nasa’s early space missions #history #space #science

Added: 2026-04-28

[00:00:00]Katherine Johnson is now recognized as a key figure in US history for her role in safely sending some of the first astronauts into space. As a child, Johnson loved to count. Her steps, the dishes she washed, pretty much anything that could be counted, she did. In 1953, Johnson joined NACA, a US government agency developing advanced aircraft. She worked in a team of mathematicians whose job was to measure and calculate the results [music] of wind tunnel tests. It was important work, but despite this, Johnson and her black colleagues were forced to use separate offices, toilets, and cafeterias.

[00:00:42]Racial segregation was commonplace in America at the [music] time. The agency was renamed NASA in 1958.

[00:00:49]And in 1961, Johnson calculated the trajectory for the rocket that carried America's first astronaut, Alan Shepard, into space. A year later, in 1962, NASA was preparing to send a human into orbit. By then, it had begun using electronic computers, but astronaut John Glenn didn't trust the computers and refused to fly until Katherine Johnson had personally checked the calculations.

[00:01:16]She spent a full day and night checking his trajectory, re-entry, and splashdown coordinates using a simple desktop calculating machine. Thanks to Johnson, the mission was a success. Katherine Johnson went on to author or co-author 26 research papers and helped transform American spaceflight from dream to reality, laying foundations that could someday enable NASA to send astronauts to Mars. Who's your favorite scientist from history? Let us know in the comments.