Johnson, Katherine
1918-2020 · Contribution: 1950s-1960s
Mathematician
Orbital mechanics calculations for NASA spaceflight
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1918, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
- Active since
- 1953
- Category
- Technology & Engineering
- Best known for
- Orbital-mechanics calculations for NASA spaceflight
Impact on the world
Johnson's precise calculations helped launch and return America's first astronauts, and an astronaut trusted her math over the machines, a measure of her reputation.
Sources
- NASA
1 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Vaughan, Dorothy
1910-2008
Electronic computing and FORTRAN programming at NACA/NASA Langley; taught herself and her staff FORTRAN to prepare the center's transition from human to machine computing; headed the programming section of the Analysis and Computation Division and contributed to the Scout Launch Vehicle Program
Jackson, Mary
1921-2005
Aerospace engineering research at NASA
Darden, Christine
1942-
Sonic boom minimization research for supersonic aircraft design
Mouton, Melba Roy
1929-1990
NASA computer programming and trajectory analysis; coded programs to compute spacecraft locations and trajectories and produced orbital element timetables for the Echo 1 and 2 satellites