NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, whose calculations helped America’s first human spaceflight in 1961, has died at the age of 101, the space agency said on Monday.
Johnson was among a team of female Black mathematicians working for NASA in the 1960s that inspired the movie “Hidden Figures.”
“At NASA we will never forget her courage and leadership and the milestones we could not have reached without her,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “We will continue building on her legacy and work tirelessly to increase opportunities for everyone who has something to contribute toward the ongoing work of raising the bar of human potential.”
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