Many people are surprised to learn that the historic moon landing in 1969 happened thanks to African American women mathematicians and engineers working at NASA. A movie based on the women’s true story, Hidden Figures, comes out December 25 starring Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe and Octavia Spencer.
Based on a book published this fall by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures reveals the critical role that black female mathematicians played in successfully launching a spaceship to the moon. Shetterly believes that even today, too many black women working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) remain unseen. “A lot of the people working in these fields and doing very well in these fields are still quite invisible,” she told Quartz magazine recently.
Read more about the real-life mathematician Katherine Johnson and how she took her skills to the moon.