NASA’s chief historian explains the real events that inspired the inspirational Oscar-nominated film.
The women who helped pioneer space travel have rocketed into the public eye thanks to the acclaimed movie “ Hidden Figures „. We spoke to NASA’s chief historian to learn more about the remarkable true story of these pioneering mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists, and to explore how the film dramatises their struggles. (Beware of some minor spoilers.)
Katherine Johnson , played in the film by Taraji P. Henson , was a brilliant geometry expert who worked as a computer — that is, a person who computes. Mary Jackson , played by Janelle Monae , was a mathematician and aerospace engineer. And Dorothy Vaughan , played by Oscar-nominated Octavia Spencer , was the first black supervisor at NACA and one of the first computer programmers.
Octavia Spencer, Taraji P Henson and Janelle Monae star as the pioneering women who helped send America into space.
Though the film shows Glenn asking for Johnson’s approval from the launch pad, she was actually called in well before the launch. Calculating the output for 11 different variables to eight significant digits took a day and a half. Her calculations matched the computer’s results exactly. Not only did her conclusions give Glenn and everyone else confidence in the upcoming launch, but they also proved the critical computer software was reliable.
