NASA: Mathematician portrayed in 'Hidden Figures' dead

This NASA file handout photo obtained February 24, 2020, shows NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson at her desk at Langley Research Center, born on August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson worked at Langley from 1953 until her retirement in 1986, making critical technical contributions which included calculating the trajectory of Alan Shepard's historic 1961 flight. - Katherine Johnson, whose calculations enabled Apollo 11 to land on the moon, died on February 24, 2020 at 101. Her story was told in the film "Hidden Figures."

NASA says Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who worked on NASA's early space missions and was portrayed in the film “Hidden Figures,” about pioneering black female aerospace workers, has died.

In a Monday morning tweet, the space agency said it celebrates her 101 years of life and her legacy of excellence and breaking down racial and social barriers.

Johnson was one of the so-called “computers” who calculated rocket trajectories and earth orbits by hand during NASA's early years.

Until 1958, Johnson and other black women worked in a racially segregated computing unit at what is now called Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Their work was the focus of the Oscar-nominated 2016 film.

In 1961, Johnson worked on the first mission to carry an American into space. In 1962, she verified computer calculations that plotted John Glenn's earth orbits.

At age 97, Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

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