Biografia

26 agosto 1918 · White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Stati Uniti

24 febbraio 2020 · Newport News, Virginia, Stati Uniti (imprecisato)

Katherine Coleman

African-American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. manned spaceflights.

During the Oscar Season of February 2020, the Job-based website Indeed released a commercial glorifying the American Space Program and the teamwork it took to land on the moon. For a fraction of a second, Katherine Johnson can be seen jotting down a few orbital mechanics equations on the blackboard that allowed the astronauts to complete the mission successfully.

Her role in NASA was dramatized in the science fiction television series Space Race (2016).

Her role in the space program, was brought to public awareness through the non-fiction book Il diritto di contare (2016) written by Margot Lee Shetterly, and was eventually given a film treatment.

She died of natural causes at a retirement community in Newport News, Virginia. She was 101 years old.