And it was a joy to contribute to the literature that was going to be coming out.īut you know, math is the same.

I like the stars and the stories we were telling. The main thing is I liked what I was doing. I’m just lucky the Lord likes me and I like him. I see a picture right now that’s not parallel, so I’m going to go straighten it. I didn’t do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question – and succeeded there. I was just excited to have challenging work to do and smart people to work with. Her calculations proved critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landings and the start of the Space Shuttle program. Katherine continued to work at NASA until 1986. But when they went to computers, they called over and said, 'Tell her to check and see if the computer trajectory they had calculated was correct.' So I checked it, and it was correct. Katherine Johnsons famous quote is I dont have a feeling of inferiority. You could do much more, much faster on the computer. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I'll do it backward and tell you when to take off.' That was my forte.Įven after NASA had electronic computers, John Glenn requested that Katherine personally recheck the computer calculations before his 1962 Friendship 7 flight – the first American mission to orbit Earth. You can make the world a better place.As a human computer, Katherine calculated the trajectory for astronaut Alan Shepard’s 1961 Freedom 7 mission to space – the first spaceflight for an American.Įarly on, when they said they wanted the capsule to come down at a certain place, they were trying to compute when it should start. Just keep trucking no matter what obstacles you face. Always remember that you can do anything, and you can change the world.

I showed all the women that we could make a difference, and I showed the African-American community that we could make a difference. My work helped send astronauts to space, and later to the moon. If I had let hate and anger take over my body, I would have lost my respect and never gotten to where I am today. So remember, hate is never the answer. I had many reasons to hate the people who treated me unfairly, and told me I could never make a difference, but hate gets people nowhere I like to put it this way, “I don’t have a feeling of inferiority. While I was working at NASA I was not always treated with equal respect as the white males were, I proved to so many people that, black or white, we all have the same potential to make a difference. While I was working in the computing unit, my mathematical abilities were gifted with mathematical abilities, and by using those skills I was able to be recognized and I was temporarily reassigned to a role in the Flight Research Division. My original position was working as a human computer. In 1959 I remarried to James Johnson, and we are still happily married. My husband died in 1956, from a brain tumor. Their names were Joylette, Constance, and Katherine, who we named after me. She was a math teacher at West Virginia State, and she was a great mentor to me. Girls are capable of doing everything that men are capable of doing, sometimes they have more imagination than men. One of my main influences was Angie Turner King. These are some of the quotes from her that provide a window into the essence of Katherine Johnson: Give credit to everybody who helped, I didn’t do anything alone. Four years later, at age 18, I graduated from college with my Bachelor of Science degree for mathematics. Johnson’s achievements include calculatingwith a pencil and a slide rulethe precise paths to allow Apollo 11 to. She is best known for her work as a human computer that helped make early human space flight possible. Davis, hand-picked me and two other men to be the first African-American students offered spots at West Virginia State. Mathematician Katherine Johnson, a woman who broke racial and gender barriers at NASA, has died at the age of 101. West Virginia State University’s president, Dr. It’s just there… You’re either right or wrong. One of my favorite quotes explains why I love math. I have always loved math, and my math gifts showed from a very young age. I am a NASA employee, and my calculations were critical for the Friendship 7 mission and the Apollo 13 mission. There were no textbooks, so we had to write them.” “Everything was so new- the whole idea of going into space was new and daring. Katherine Johnson Speech by Story Mackey 6th grade Ms. Lawrence

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Katherine johnson nasa quotes