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Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematics pioneer, dies at 101

Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 03:53 PM ET

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Katherine Johnson at NASA Langley Research Center in 1980. NASA

Key Takeaways:

Pioneering NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, one of the first black women at the agency, passed away at 101 years old.
She made crucial contributions as a "human computer," calculating critical flight trajectories for historic missions, including Apollo 11's moon landing and verifying John Glenn's orbital flight.
Johnson received significant recognition later in life, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a NASA building named in her honor, and portrayal in the film "Hidden Figures."

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This story originally featured on Popular Science

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