SS Katherine Johnson, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft spacecraft, launched Saturday from a NASA facility in Virginia and arrived at the space station Monday morning. He carries a wealth of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware that will assist researchers in numerous investigations.
The spacecraft will support experiments exploring treatments to restore vision in people with degenerative retinal diseases, why astronauts experience muscle weakness in microgravity, and how astronauts sleep in space, among others. It also brings advanced computing to the space station and upgrades clean air and water systems for the crew there.
That the spacecraft is named after Johnson, who also inspired the 2016 film “Hidden Figures,” is an “honor,” said Adi Boulos, NASA’s chief flight director for the mission.
“As a black woman, Katherine Johnson broke down racial and gender barriers to living her dreams and becoming a key part of this country’s youth space program,” she said in a statement.
“Fifty-nine years ago today, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth after personally asking Katherine Johnson to verify the orbital trajectory calculations of her Mercury missions. Katherine Johnson was an asset to our space program and I am honored to work for a mission that further expands its legacy. “
Johnson’s work made possible early space missions
The pioneering mathematician was part of NASA’s “Computer Pool,” a group of mathematicians whose data propelled the agency’s first successful space missions.
Johnson began his career at NACA, NASA’s National Aeronautics Advisory Committee and predecessor, in 1953, one of the black researchers hired for the agency’s aeronautics lab after an executive order banning racial discrimination in the defense industry.
Johnson first started in the segregated wing of the women’s facility before being soon transferred to the Flight Research Division, where she would work for several years.
His career began to accelerate as the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. Johnson made his way to briefings traditionally attended only by men and secured a place in the inner circle of the Soviet Union. American Space Program.
He was commissioned to conduct trajectory analysis for the Alan Shepherd mission in 1961, the first American human spaceflight. She co-authored an article on the safety of orbital landings in 1960: the first time a woman in the flight research division received credit for a report. Her work quickly caught her attention for her accuracy, and John Glenn would famously call her to erase the numbers from the spacecraft’s trajectory before it orbited the Earth.
Johnson’s work was also instrumental in mapping the surface of the moon before the 1969 landing and played a role in the safe return of Apollo 13 astronauts. He retired in 1986.
CNN’s Scottie Andrew contributed to this report.