Katherine Johnson, the NASA Langley Research Center mathematician who went from “hidden” to hero in her late 90s, died Monday morning at the age of 101.
In the early days of the space program, before the advent of modern computers, Johnson’s precise trajectory calculations — done with pencil and paper, or chalk and blackboard — put John Glenn and other astronauts into orbit and brought them safely home. She was part of a team of “human computers” who inspired Margot Lee Shetterly’s best-selling book “Hidden Figures,” which was subsequently adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie that turned Johnson into an icon of perseverance and dignity.
Johnson was always quick to point out that she was part of a team. When people would gush admiration and ask about her accomplishments, she would simply smile and say she was “just doing my job, like anyone else.” (DailyPress)
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Most celebrity deaths don't affect me, but for some reason, hers does. It's just the idea of a brilliant mind laboring in silence while the world praises her work unaware she even exists. Unable to comprehend she even exists in many cases. I hope her life had happiness and satisfaction in it.
