![]() Why do you think that relatively few people knew about the remarkable work that you, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and others did for the space program until recently? We all provided valuable input to the process. Darden is the first person that comes to mind. Are there any other unsung heroes of the space race who you feel could be featured in their own movie?ĭr. In the book, you heap loads of praise on Dorothy Vaughan and your fellow colleagues. I knew and had confidence in my math, so I did it. I knew they asked me to check the numbers. I understand they were very friendly and approachable in their communities in Hampton (grocery stores, church, ballgames and the like).Īt the time, did you know that John Glenn asked for “the girl” (which would be you) to check the numbers before he took his landmark flight into space? Did it heighten the stakes for you? Women (“girls,” aka mathematicians) did not have their names included as authors on technical paper in the early days.ĭid you meet John Glenn and the other Mercury Seven astronauts? Was Glenn as charming as he seemed in the movie? I could see in my mind what I needed and sort of worked backwards.ĭid you ever have to fight to have authorship or co-authorship of a report? There’s this lovely part in the movie in which your character turns to “old” math - Euler’s method - to figure out how to get John Glenn back down from orbit. Did you think of it as cutting-edge math at the time? You did more than calculations - in the film, you created “new” math to go from an elliptical to a parabolic orbit. What were we supposed to do? We learned to pick our battles for the greater good. Is there a lesson to be learned in the way you dealt with that particular barrier? But according to the book, you actually ignored the prohibitions and used the white women’s bathroom anyway - and it sounds like no one stopped you. In the movie, your character is forced to run back and forth to West Computing to use the bathroom. The three leading ladies did an excellent job portraying us. I liked working with smart people.ĭid you ever have to go toe-to-toe with them over the numbers?Īfter a while, they learned to respect my answers because they were always correct. What was it like to work with NASA engineers, particularly in these high-pressure situations?Įxciting. What were your favorite challenges to work on? What was it that drew you to mathematics? We did what we were asked to do to the best of our ability. No, I was just excited to have challenging work to do and smart people to work with.Īt the time, did you think about the fact that you, Dorothy Vaughan and the other West Computing women were pushing the boundaries of what it meant to be a mathematician, a scientist or an engineer?
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