Rocket to space station honors ‘Hidden Figures’ mathematician
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A space station supply ship named after the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” rocketed into orbit Saturday, the 59th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic launch.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule — dubbed the S.S. Katherine Johnson — should reach the International Space Station on Monday after its launch from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Johnson died a year ago this week at age 101.
“Mrs. Johnson was selected for her handwritten calculations that helped launch the first Americans into space, as well as her accomplishments in breaking glass ceiling after glass ceiling as a Black woman,” Frank DeMauro, a Northrop Grumman vice president, said the day before liftoff. “A homework assignment for all of you is to go watch that movie after the Cygnus launch.”