Katherine Coleman Essay

Katherine Coleman Globe Johnson was born on August 26, 1918 in White Sulfur
Springs, WV. She’s the daughter of Joylette and Joshua Coleman and was the
youngest of four siblings. Her father worked as a lumberman, farmer, and handyman
and also worked at the Greenbrier Hotel. Her mother was a teacher. She finished the 8 th
grade by the age of eighth, and her town did not offer education to African Americans
after the eighth grade so her parents enrolled her at West Virginia State College in
Institute, WV. By the age of 18 she graduated college with degrees in mathematics and
French. She was married in 1939 to James Globe. Even though a career as a research
mathematician is hard for African Americans and women alone that’s what Katherine
decided

on becoming. In 1952, at a family gathering a relative mentioned that the NACA
was hiring mathematicians. At the Langley, Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, based in
Hampton, Virginia, near Langley field, NACA hired African-American mathematicians as
well as whites for their Guidance and Navigation Department.

Katherine was offered a
job in 1953 and accepted and became part of the early NASA team. From 1953 to 1958,
she worked as a what they call “computer,” analyzing topics such as gust alleviation for
aircraft. She was later reassigned to the Guidance and Control Division of Langley’s
Flight Research Division. From 1958 until her retirement in 1986, Katherine worked as
an aerospace technologist, moving during her career to the Spacecraft Controls Branch.
Then later moving back working directly on digital computers, her ability and reputation
for accuracy helped to establish confidence in the new technology. In 1961, her work
helped to ensure that Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 Mercury capsule would be quickly
found after landing, using the accurate trajectory that had been established. She also
helped to calculate the trajectory for the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon.  In 1970,
Johnson worked on the Apollo 13 moon mission and when the mission was aborted, her
work on backup procedures and charts helped set a safe path for the crew's return to
Earth. In Which, creating a one-star observation system that would allow astronauts to
determine their location with accuracy. In a 2010 interview, Johnson

recalled,
"Everybody was concerned about them getting there. We were concerned about them
getting back." Because of her work she has been presented with many awards and
titles. She was named West Virginia State College Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in
1999. President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
On May 5 th , 2016, a new 40,000 sq. ft. building was named “Katherine G. Johnson
Computational Research Facility and dedicated at the agency's Langley Research
Center in Hampton, Virginia. She was given far too many more for me to go on about.
This great African American woman is still alive to this day a strong and beautiful 99
years old. This country will always love and respect this woman for all she has done,
thank you Katherine Coleman Globe Johnson.