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African-American women working behind the scenes as “human computers” were vital to the Space Race

Mary Jackson, née Mary Winston, (born April 9, 1921, Hampton, Virginia, U.S.—died February 11, 2005, Hampton), American mathematician and aerospace engineer who in 1958 became the first African American female engineer to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She was born and raised in Hampton, Virginia. After graduating from high school with highest honours, she earned a dual degree in mathematics and physical science at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in 1942. She worked as a math teacher in Maryland for a year before returning to Hampton. She l...

Dorothy Vaughan, née Dorothy Johnson, (born September 20, 1910, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.—died November 10, 2008, Hampton, Virginia), American mathematician and computer programmer who made important contributions to the early years of the U.S. space program and who was the first African American manager at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which later became part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1917 Johnson’s family moved from Missouri to West Virginia. She later earned a degree in mathematics (1929) from Wilberforce University nea...

Katherine Johnson, née Katherine Coleman, also known as (1939–56) Katherine Goble, (born August 26, 1918, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, U.S.—died February 24, 2020, Newport News, Virginia), American mathematician who calculated and analyzed the flight paths of many spacecraft during her more than three decades with the U.S. space program. Her work helped send astronauts to the Moon. Coleman’s intelligence and skill with numbers became apparent when she was a child; by the time she was 10 years old, she had started attending high school. In 1937, at age 18, Coleman graduated wi...

Desktop PCs aren't dead—and might be better for your home office than a laptop. Here are the best ones to buy, from brands like Apple, HP, and Alienware.