Katherine Johnson, the mathematical genius who said, ”Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men,” passed away at age 101 on Monday. Johnson's story was portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures and she was portrayed by actor Taraji P Henson. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine posted to Twitter. "She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten."
Actor Taraji P Henson paid a tribute to Johnson on Instagram with a black and white picture and captioned it: “Thank you QUEEN #KatherineJohnson for sharing your intelligence, poise, grace and beauty with the world! Because of your hard work, little girls EVERYWHERE can dream as big as the MOON!!! Your legacy will live on FOREVER AND EVER!!! You ran so we could fly!!!”
Johnson who was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 by the then-President Barack Obama, was cited as an example of America's spirit of discovery by him in his State of the Union speech in 2016.
NASA, in 2016, named a research facility for Johnson in her hometown of Hampton, Virginia, and in 2018, her alma mater, West Virginia State, marked her 100th birthday by establishing a scholarship honouring her and installing a statue.
Johnson and her other black colleagues were made to work in a unit separate from their white colleagues with separate restrooms and dining facilities owing to racism, which was more prevalent at the time. But Johnson, who enjoyed a 33-year long career at NASA and worked on the Mercury and Apollo missions, ignored the racism.
Johnson was always fascinated with numbers and counted everything including the steps she took while walking and the dishes she cleaned.
Johnson was part of the team supporting the mission that made Alan Shepard the first American in space in 1961. She went on to calculate crucial rocket trajectories, orbital paths and launch windows. Johnson, while at NASA, wrote or co-wrote 26 research reports before retiring in 1986.
Johnson and her first husband, James Goble, who died of a brain tumour in 1956, had three daughters. She married then Lieutenant Colonel James Johnson in 1959.
