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Three female African-American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn's launch into orbit while dealing with racial and gender discrimination.

In 1962, astronaut Col. John Hershel Glenn Jr. became the first american to orbit the Earth. He circled the globe three times. Hidden figures is a drama loosely based on the people at NASA during the period of 1961, principally three black female mathematicians who played a pivotal role in making the launch possible.

Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math...really good. They participated in some of NASA's greatest successes, like providing the calculations for America's first journeys into space. And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they used their genius minds to change the world.

Ify battles against body shaming, manipulation, and relentless bullying in the competitive world of fashion school.

Writer/producer/director Theodore Melfi, actor Kevin Costner and president of Fox 2000 Pictures, Elizabeth Gabler discuss the Oscar-nominated film based on the true story about three brilliant African-American women working on John Glenn's launch into orbit at NASA.

Inspired by Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Gobels Johnson for calculating the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. Contestants, all African American women, write an algorithm to navigate a spacecraft from Earth to Mars.

The Ringer's Sean Fennessey sits down with Ted Melfi to discuss the success of his latest film, Hidden Figures, and how it came about, as well as the difficulties of making an entertaining movie about math. Melfi also shares what it's like working with Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Costner, getting Pharrell to score his movie, and how he feels about the "Hidden Fences" mishap.

Sean Fennessey sits down with Ted Melfi to discuss the success of his latest film, 'Hidden Figures' (1:10), and how it came about (3:19), as well as the difficulties of making an entertaining movie about math (8:00).

Meet Sharon McDougle, a modern-day hidden figure. Sharon overcame so many obstacles in her life before joining the aerospace engineering department of the air force, which led to her becoming a history maker at NASA.