See how NASA greeted legendary mathematician Katherine Johnson on her 99th birthday

NASA scientist Katherine Johnson, a research mathematician with the facility, and who along with three other African American colleagues, made history for their role in John Glen orbiting the earth, turned 99 today.

Johnson, on whose life the Academy Award-winning movie Hidden Figures is based, was always fascinated by numbers. In an interview with NASA, she said, ““I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did.”

Fascinated by numbers and smart to boot, for by the time she was 10 years old, she was a high school freshman–a truly amazing feat in an era when school for African-Americans normally stopped at eighth grade for those could indulge in that luxury.

Her father, Joshua, was determined that his bright little girl would have a chance to meet her potential. He drove his family 120 miles to Institute, West Virginia, where she could continue her education through high school. Johnson’s academic performance proved her father’s decision was the right one: Katherine skipped though grades to graduate from high school at 14, from college at 18.

During World War II, the NACA expanded this …read more