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Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an African American physicist and mathematician. She finished schooling at a very early age. Katherine Johnson was 1 of the first 3 black people allowed to study at West Virginia University in the 1930s. She was known for her work on the United States' aeronautics and space programs where she worked with the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA.

She was also known for accuracy in computerized celestial navigation. She made it possible for many space flights such as Project Mercury, including the early NASA missions of John Glenn and Alan Shepard, and the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon, through the Space Shuttle program to happen. Her calculations were critical to the success of these missions.

Johnson also did calculations for plans for a mission to Mars. Katherine Goble Johnson wrote 26 research reports. She was the first woman to attend an editorial meeting at NASA. In 2015, Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was included in the BBC series 100 Women the next year.Johnson died on February 24, 2020 at her home in Hampton, Virginia at the age of 101.

Did you read this text?

• yes

• no

Johnson was one of the first woman that attended an editorial meeting at NASA. This is an example of “breaking the glass ceiling.” What does that mean?

• It means making people unhappy

• It means being the first to do something

• It means to make people unhappy

• None of these

What role did Johnson play in the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the moon?

• She designed the astronaut’s suits

• She watched it on TV with her family.

• She did calculations for the navigation

• She was an astronaut