[MUSIC]
Hello, everyone! Welcome to The Lawrence at Home.
My name is Fira Fatmasiefa, and I'm one of 
the educators in the Lawrence Hall of Science,
and welcome back to today's Storytime.
So this week, we're doing another weeklong event,
and our event this week is called 
the Black Voices in STEAM.
In light of the recent events, we at the 
Lawrence Hall want to use our platform,
so we want to use this opportunity 
to acknowledge and highlight
the Black scientists, inventors, engineers, researchers,
and other people who have contributed a lot to science
despite the challenges that they 
may have faced as a result of their race.
In addition, we have also included a 
resources list in the description box below.
You can find a Google Doc that's filled with 
books, articles, podcasts, etc. for all ages
that talks about race and racism,
so we encourage you to check them out
and have this conversation with 
the people around you at home.
So yeah, one last thing before we begin:
Please, as always, like this video
and subscribe to our channel
so you don't miss out on any upcoming content.
So yes, let's get into the story right away.
All right, so here is the story that 
I mean to share with all of you.
Today, I'm going to read the story of Katherine Johnson,
the NASA mathematician who is out of this world.
Katherine Johnson has been 
such a huge inspiration to me.
I am an astrophysics major,
and she's motivated me to 
continue pursuing my love for space,
and also for space exploration.
So, let's get into it.
Katherine Johnson is an African American woman
who was involved in the U.S. space 
program from 1950s to the 1980s.
She calculated and analyzed 
flight paths of spacecrafts.
Her calculations helped astronauts 
leave and return to Earth safely.
She also allowed us to reach the moon.
So, I'm sure that viewers at home have seen
footage of rockets and astronauts from either 
the news or from television or from movies,
So, behind the launching of all these rockets,
there's a lot of math that has to go behind it
to ensure that the mission could go safely
and also to ensure that the astronauts 
who are going on these missions
can go to space and return home safely.
So, that is what Katherine Johnson did.
She did all of this math to make 
sure that the mission goes well.
So, Katherine Johnson was born 
in 1918 in West Virginia,
and Johnson has shown her intelligence 
and skills ever since she was a child.
When she was 10 years old, she 
was already attending high school,
and she graduated from university
when she was only 18 years old.
Wow! Let's let that sink in for a second.
She started high school when she was 10 years old.
Meanwhile, when I was 10 years old,
I was still in fifth grade.
How about the viewers at home? 
Are any of you 10 years old?
Are you in high school now?
And also, she graduated from 
university when she was only 18.
Meanwhile, I only started university when I was 18.
So, I guess here we can see that 
Katherine progresses really fast in school,
and I think that really proves just how 
Katherine Johnson is really really smart,
because it's not easy for someone 
to go through school that fast.
So, I think we can really tell
here that Johnson is really smart.
After she graduated from university, 
Johnson worked as a computer
in the National Advisory 
Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA,
in the West Computing Unit.
Hmm, so, what does it mean to be a computer?
This is an interesting word 
because here, "computer" is a job.
Isn't "computer" an object,
an electronic device?
So, back in the day, a computer 
is a person who computes.
In the early 17th century, a computer 
is a person who performed calculations
and do all the math before 
electronic computers were available.
So today, we don't really have 
computer as an occupation anymore,
because these days, we have electronic 
computers like laptops and softwares,
and this technology that we have today 
are able to do this calculations for us.
However, back in the day in the early 17th century,
electronic computers were not available 
for scientists or for other researchers to use.
So that is why "computer" was a job,
so that they actually have someone to do all of 
this math and all of these calculations for them.
So that was Katherine Johnson's job,
because as we mentioned earlier, Katherine was 
really talented and skilled in math and calculations,
so she's only fitting for this job.
So, back in the day, NACA was segregated.
Hmm, this is an interesting word.
Has any of you heard of this word before — 
"segregated," or perhaps "segregation"?
So, what does it mean to be segregated, 
or what exactly is segregation?
So, segregation basically separates
white people and Black people or people of color.
And usually, this means that 
white people and Black people,
they can't use the same facilities 
or get the same services
or they don't have the same access to the same things.
They might have different access 
or not have access at all.
And segregation usually puts Black people 
or people of color at a disadvantage,
because they can't access the same things 
or use the same facilities as white people.
For example, since NACA was segregated,
Johnson and other African Americans were 
required to eat, work, and even use the restroom
in spaces that are separate from their white peers.
Hmm, this is very interesting.
Do you think it is okay to separate people like this?
Because, basically, segregation —
They make us different just based on 
our race and based on our skin color.
Have you perhaps noticed this happening 
around you, maybe in public spaces or in school?
Try discussing this with the people who's 
watching this with you or people you're living with —
your friends, your family.
What do you think about this?
I personally think that regardless 
of our race or our skin color,
I feel like everyone deserves to be treated equally.
I think everyone deserves to use the same facilities,
to have the same access to anything 
or get the same services,
regardless of their skin color or their race.
And, you know, I feel like race and the color of our skin 
shouldn't be something that sets us apart.
So, fortunately for Johnson 
and her African American peers,
that changed in 1958, when 
NACA was merged with NASA
and NASA banned segregation.
So, it was around this time that 
segregation was starting to be abolished
and they're no longer segregated by law.
And yeah, so —
These days, white people and people of
color are no longer segregated by law,
but I would still like you to have that conversation
about segregation with the people around you.
All right, so back to our story!
At NASA, Johnson was part of the Space Task Group.
Here, we can see a picture of her 
working on her calculations.
And in 1960, she co-authored a research 
report with one of the group's engineers.
And I just want to mention that back in the day,
there were a lot of struggles that Katherine 
had to go through to co-author this paper.
Because back in the day, computers weren't allowed —
They were not allowed to receive credit 
or to be credited for a paper or for a report,
so Katherine had to fight really 
hard to get her name on the paper,
because she did contribute a lot to the paper
and she deserves to have her name there.
And eventually she was able to do that,
and Katherine was also the first woman 
in her division to receive credit for a paper,
so this was a huge feat 
— a huge achievement —
because she was able to change that pattern
where computers weren't allowed 
to have their names on reports,
but now, she was able to get her name on the report.
And this is only one of many 
of Katherine's achievements,
so here are some of her 
contributions to space exploration:
In 1961, Johnson calculated the path of Freedom 7,
the spacecraft that carried Alan Shepard, 
the first American man in space.
Whoa!
So, this is a huge achievement for us
because up until this point, we were 
not able to send a man to space, but
eventually in 1961, we were able to send Alan Shepard
and he became the first American 
man to have ever gone to space.
And behind this mission lies Katherine's calculations 
that helped calculate the path of the rocket
that made sure Alan Shepard was able to 
fly to space and get back to Earth safely.
And another one of her contributions was in 1962,
where she verified the computer 
calculation of Friendship 7,
which is a rocket.
And she calculated the Friendship 7's flight path
at the request of John Glenn.
And John Glenn was the first astronaut 
— the first man — to ever orbit the Earth.
So this is another great achievement,
and because —
Although, at this point, we have sent men to space,
they usually just go to space and come back.
However, for John Glenn,
we were able to make him go to space 
and go around the Earth and come back,
which was the first time ever 
anyone has ever done that.
So that achievement becomes ours and
becomes the United States;
it becomes John Glenn's achievement;
and also
Katherine Johnson contributed a lot to that,
because John Glenn personally requested her 
to verify the computer calculation,
so that it ensures the safety of —
the success of the mission and 
also John Glenn's safety as well.
So he was able to go to space,
orbit the Earth,
and come back safely,
and the mission was a success
because Johnson helped verify the calculation.
So, that's amazing, isn't it?
All of these amazing
achievements and missions, 
and Johnson played a part in all of them
Another great mission that she contributed greatly,
and this is probably one —
still one of the greatest missions of all time,
is the launch to the Moon and the Moon landing.
So, in 1969, Johnson contributed 
greatly to the Apollo 11 mission,
and this was the mission that 
sent the first three men to the Moon.
So again, she helped calculate the trajectory of the rocket, and that enabled the success of this mission.
that sent the first three men to the Moon.
So, here is the
logo of the Apollo 11 mission,
here are the three astronauts that went on the mission,
and here is the rocket.
And yeah, so this mission is 
extremely legendary and historical.
This was the first time ever anyone 
has ever stepped foot on the Moon,
and it was something that 
at first was deemed impossible,
but from this mission, we can see that
we were able to make it happen.
And Katherine Johnson played a role in that.
Because of her calculation, she was again, once again, 
able to ensure the safety of the astronauts, and —
ultimately contributed to the success of the mission.
So, yeah!
Here, we can see that Katherine Johnson just 
continues to excel and contribute so much.
She contributes a lot and greatly to space exploration from the three missions that we've seen earlier.
And she continues to do so after that.
Some of the examples of her work is:
She also helped with the Apollo 13 mission.
Her work helped set a safe path 
for the astronauts' return to Earth.
And then she also worked on the Space Shuttle program
and the Earth Resources Satellite,
and she also helped a little bit 
on plans for missions to Mars.
So Katherine Johnson has just 
done all of these amazing things
and contributed so much to space exploration.
Isn't that amazing?
And some of her other achievements is that 
she also co-authored 26 scientific papers,
which is awesome, because —
Remember I mentioned earlier that
at first, it was hard for her to receive credit for a paper.
From then, she was able to 
co-author more scientific papers.
And then, Johnson also received numerous 
awards and honors for all her efforts and contribution,
And in 2015, she received the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
So here is a picture of her with the medal that she received from the president at the time.
Another thing that was done in 
honor of her was that, in 2016,
NASA dedicated a new building at the 
Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia,
to Katherine Johnson.
and the building was named the 
Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility.
And here we see a picture of her,
and she is in front of the building, and she's 
taking a picture with the sign that shows her name.
That's really amazing,
to be able to have a building named after you,
but I feel like Katherine Johnson really deserved that
because she has contributed and 
done so much for the space program.
And she continued to become more well-known 
and recognized for her contribution.
And another example of that is in 2016, Margot Lee Shetterly, she wrote a book called "Hidden Figures,"
which follows Johnson herself 
and two other NASA mathematicians,
Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan,
and these two women were also Black.
So, this book follows their adventure 
as Black women in NASA
and all the challenges that they have 
faced to be able to do their work.
and a movie adaptation of this book was 
also released later that year, in 2016.
So, here we see a picture of the book,
and we also see the poster of the movie,
and some of you might have seen the movie.
It was an amazing movie, in my opinion. I loved it.
So, if you have time and if you can find it, 
I would truly recommend you watching the movie
And yeah, Katherine Johnson just continues to be 
such a huge inspiration and a huge motivation
for those who are pursuing 
astronomy or space exploration.
And in the words of our former 
president Barack Obama, he said that
"Katherine G Johnson refused to be limited by 
society's expectations of her gender and race
while expanding the boundaries of humanity's reach."
And I truly agree with this 
because Katherine Johnson has —
You know, she faced a lot of these challenges 
and a lot of these boundaries that
were set upon her just because of 
her gender and because of her race,
but she was able to overcome all of that, and
she was able to prove that she is capable, and
she ends up contributing so 
much to all of these missions,
and she also helped the missions become successful.
And that's just really inspirational.
NASA noted her historical role as one of the first 
African American women to work as a NASA scientist.
So, she was the first —
She was one of the first African American women
who was able to contribute 
this much to space exploration,
and she continues to inspire other African American women, other Black women, other women of color,
so that they continue to, 
you know, pursue their dreams,
and that includes me as well.
And behind the success of 
spaceflight missions during her time
was her calculations that helped the astronauts 
get into space and back home safely.
All right, so that is the end of our story today.
We have looked at the life of Katherine Johnson
and how she was able to contribute 
so much to space exploration.
Like I said earlier, Johnson is 
personally one of my biggest inspirations
to keep going and to pursue my love for space, and
yeah, just like continue working hard so that I'm able to
do what I want to do, regardless of all the
restraints or all the boundaries 
and all the challenges I face,
because she really showed me that
despite all of that, she's still able to go forward.
And yeah, I hope that the story speaks to you
and also inspires you to keep following your dreams,
regardless of your gender, regardless of your race.
So yeah, once again, thank you so 
much for watching this video, and
yeah, I hope you like this weeklong event 
of Black Voices in STEAM.
Once again, we want to recognize what's 
currently going on in the United States, and
once again, I invite you to look 
at the resources list below too
so that we can have more of these conversations
and be more aware of what Black people 
are facing in the United States.
So, yeah!
Once again, thank you so much for watching!
Don't forget to subscribe to 
The Lawrence At Home channel below.
And yeah, I'll see you next time.
Bye, everyone!
