Katherine Johnson, one of the trailblazing African American mathematicians whose story was told in the hit film Hidden Figures, has died, Nasa announced on Monday. She was 101.
In a statement, the US space agency said: “Today, we celebrate her 101 years of life and honor her legacy of excellence that broke down racial and social barriers.”
Johnson worked on complex missions including Alan Shepard’s history-making journey into space and provided the final calculations needed for John Glenn’s mission into orbit.
Her lightning speed led colleagues to call her a “human computer”.
“Our Nasa family is sad to learn the news that Katherine Johnson passed away this morning at 101 years old,” the Nasa administrator, Jim Bridenstine, said in a tweet. “She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten.”
Johnson was born in August 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
With fellow mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Dr Christine Darden, her story of overcoming racial and gender-based discrimination to become an integral part of Nasa’s work in space exploration was largely overlooked until the release of Theodore Melfi’s Oscar-nominated film in 2017.
Onscreen, Johnson was portrayed by Taraji P Henson.
Among tributes on Monday, the science writer Maryam Zaringhalam posted a quote by Johnson: “Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.”
In 2015, Barack Obama awarded Johnson the presidential medal of freedom. In November 2019, she was selected to receive to the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor presented by Congress to a civilian.
Darden, 77, is now the only living Hidden Figure.
