Katherine Johnson's NASA Contributions

About

Katherine Johnson was a pivotal figure in NASA's early space missions, contributing significantly to the success of several historic flights. Her work as a mathematician involved calculating trajectories and launch windows for various missions, including Alan Shepard's first American spaceflight in 1961 and John Glenn's orbital flight in 1962. Johnson's expertise was crucial in ensuring the accuracy of these missions, often manually verifying calculations due to the unreliability of early electronic computers. Johnson's most notable contribution was her work on the Apollo 11 mission, where she calculated the trajectory necessary for the lunar module to rendezvous with the command module in orbit around the moon. This ensured the safe return of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Her contributions extended beyond Apollo, influencing the development of the Space Shuttle program and Earth Resources satellites. Johnson's legacy includes authoring 26 research reports and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 for her groundbreaking work.