50 Fun Facts About Katherine Johnson

What was Katherine Johnson's NASA job title, for people who did complex calculations by hand?

She called the women in the pool "computers who wore skirts".

Which astronaut refused to fly unless Johnson personally verified the computer's numbers for his orbit?

He became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7 in 1962.

Whose 2016 nonfiction book was the film Hidden Figures based on?

The film follows Johnson and two other African-American mathematicians who worked as computers at NASA.

Who played Johnson in Hidden Figures?

Johnson appeared with the actress at the 89th Academy Awards and received a standing ovation.

Which president presented Johnson with the nation's highest civilian honour in 2015?

He said she "refused to be limited by society's expectations of her gender and race".

In which West Virginia town was Johnson born on August 26, 1918?

Her father worked as a lumberman, farmer and handyman, and at the Greenbrier Hotel; her mother was a teacher.

At what age did Johnson enrol in high school, on the West Virginia State College campus in Institute?

Greenbrier County offered no public schooling for African-American students beyond eighth grade, so the family split its time between two towns.

How old was Johnson when she graduated from college, summa cum laude, in 1937?

She had taken every mathematics course the college offered and earned degrees in mathematics and French.

Which mentor, the third African-American maths PhD, added new courses just for Johnson?

The chemist and mathematician Angie Turner King had guided her through high school.

Which sorority was Johnson a member of?

It was founded at Howard University in 1908 and is the oldest Black Greek-letter sorority.

Which 1938 Supreme Court ruling led to Johnson integrating West Virginia University's graduate school?

She was one of three Black students, and the only woman, chosen; she left after one session to focus on her family.

What was the name of the agency that hired Johnson in 1953, before it became NASA?

A relative mentioned it was hiring for its West Area computing section at Langley in Hampton, Virginia.

Who supervised the West Area Computers section to which Johnson was first assigned?

She was later portrayed by Octavia Spencer, who earned an Oscar nomination for the role.

What label was on the office door of Johnson and the other African-American women in the computing pool?

Virginia law and federal workplace segregation required them to eat and use restrooms separately from white colleagues.

Why, according to Johnson, was she never sent back to the computing section after a temporary assignment?

Her knowledge of analytic geometry quickly won over the all-male flight research team.

What did Johnson say she wanted to attend, where "no women had gone before"?

She simply told people she had done the work and that she belonged.

What did Johnson like doing at lunch at Langley, showing why she "didn't feel the segregation"?

"I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it," she told WHRO-TV.

Which colleague insisted 'Katherine should finish the report', getting her name on one for the first time?

It was the first time a woman in her division had her name on a report; the supervisor Pearson "was not a fan of women".

Whose May 5, 1961 flight, the first by an American in space, did Johnson calculate the trajectory for?

She also calculated the launch window and plotted backup navigation charts in case of electronic failure.

What was the name of Shepard's Mercury capsule?

Glenn's capsule the following year was Friendship 7.

Where was Johnson when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969?

She and a few others crowded round a small television to watch the first steps.

What did Johnson create to help the Apollo 13 crew determine their location after the mission was aborted?

"Everybody was concerned about them getting there," she said. "We were concerned about them getting back."

Which planet was the subject of human-mission plans Johnson worked on late in her career?

She also worked on the Space Shuttle programme and the Earth Resources Satellite.

In which year did Johnson retire from NASA?

She had worked for the agency and its predecessor for 33 years.

How did Johnson's first husband, James Goble, die in 1956?

She married Army officer Jim Johnson in 1959; they were together 60 years until his death at 93.

For how many years was Johnson a choir member at Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church?

She lived in Hampton, Virginia, and had six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

How old was Johnson when she died on February 24, 2020?

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine called her "an American hero".

How many scientific papers did Johnson co-author?

NASA noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist".

What NASA award, often called "the astronaut's award", did Johnson receive from Leland Melvin in 2016?

It goes to those who make outstanding contributions to flight safety and mission success.

Which building, opened at Langley in 2017 on the 55th anniversary of Shepard's flight, bears her name?

NASA also renamed its Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, after her in 2019.

Which honour did the United States Congress award Johnson on November 8, 2019?

She was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2021 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2024.

What did Johnson decline to have printed on the final Lego "Women of NASA" set in 2016?

Mattel did release a Barbie in her likeness with a NASA identity badge in 2018.

What did the United States Space Force name Creola Katherine Johnson in 2020?

The GPS 3 Space Vehicle 8 was launched into orbit on May 30, 2025.

Which company named its Cygnus NG-15 space station supply craft the SS Katherine Johnson in 2021?

A ÑuSat satellite nicknamed "Katherine" had gone up in November 2020.

Katherine Johnson Middle School in Fairfax County was formerly named after which Confederate?

85 percent of Fairfax residents voted for the change in 2020.

Which institution named its SciTech campus's main building Katherine G. Johnson Hall in 2019?

West Virginia State University had put up a life-size statue of her the year before.

Who directed Hidden Figures?

He co-wrote the screenplay with Allison Schroeder, who grew up by Cape Canaveral and interned at NASA.

Which actor played the astronaut who insisted Johnson check his numbers, in Hidden Figures?

Costner played the fictional head of the space programme and Ali played Johnson's love interest.

How many Academy Award nominations did Hidden Figures receive at the 89th Oscars?

It won none, losing Best Picture to Moonlight, but its cast won the Screen Actors Guild ensemble award.

Roughly what was Hidden Figures' worldwide box-office gross?

Made for $25 million, it was the highest-grossing Best Picture nominee of its year at the domestic box office.

Which mission-support group's 1977 NASA Group Achievement Award recognised Johnson's navigation work?

The work supported the spacecraft that orbited and mapped the Moon ahead of Apollo.

Which South African institution awarded Johnson an honorary doctorate in April 2019?

The College of William & Mary and Spelman College had honoured her the previous two years.

What was Katherine Johnson's maiden name?

She was born Creola Katherine Coleman, the youngest of four children, and became Goble by her first marriage.

Which chemist and mathematician guided Johnson through high school and college?

King mentored her alongside W. W. Schieffelin Claytor at West Virginia State College.

How did Johnson describe the women in the Langley computing pool?

Their main job was reading data from aircraft black boxes and carrying out precise calculations.

Johnson's early NACA calculations from 1953 to 1958 covered topics such as what for aircraft?

She was then moved to the Guidance and Control Division of Langley's Flight Research Division.

Johnson's second husband, James 'Jim' Johnson, was an Army veteran of which war?

They married in 1959 and were together for 60 years until his death in 2019.

How large is the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility at Langley?

It was named on May 5, 2016 and formally opened on September 22, 2017, with Johnson attending.

In which Texas city did a K-5 technology magnet academy named for Johnson open in 2018?

Its curriculum includes robotics, coding, computer science, digital art and music.

Which NASA administrator called Johnson 'an American hero' after her death in 2020?

He added that 'her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten'.