NASA Wishes Katherine Johnson a Happy 100th Birthday

Aug. 26, 2018: In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Katherine Johnson was called upon to hand check the computer’s orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission, from blast off to splashdown.

“If she says they’re good,’” Katherine Johnson remembers the astronaut saying, “then I’m ready to go.” Glenn’s flight was a success, and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space.

NASA wishes Katherine Johnson a very Happy 100th Birthday!

To learn more about Katherine and other trailblazing ‘human computers,’ visit: https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures
www.nasa.gov/feature/katherine-johnson-the-girl-who-loved-to-count

Credit: NASA
Duration: 20 seconds
Release Date: August 26, 2018
#NASA #Space #KatherineJohnson #Mercury #Gemini #Apollo #Shuttle #Human #Spaceflight #Orbital #Trajectory #Moon #Lunar #Earth #Mathematics #Math #STEM #Education #Careers #Professional #Women #Physicist #Scientist #Mathematician #Pioneer #Langley #UnitedStates #HD #Video