Black Women Who Helped Launch the U.S. Space Race Program

In the late 1950s, what we know today as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) used to be NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics).

NACA hired African American women to work in the West Computing Unit. Even though the women in this unit helped with the complex math problems, they were segregated from the white workers. That meant they worked in separate areas and used separate bathrooms and cafeterias.

Despite the conditions, many of these women excelled at math and were the invisible “human computers” that helped launch the Space Race program in the United States.

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Meet the Women

Mary Jackson

Mary Jackson worked for an engineer named Kazimierz Czarnecki on the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel project. Engineers would create winds almost at the speed of sound to study how the forces affected the airspace model inside the wind tunnel. Later, Mary received a degree in aerospace engineering and became NASA’s first African American engineer in 1958. 

Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson became very good at calculating the trajectory or path needed for an orbital flight. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard would become the first American in space thanks to Katherine’s calculations. During her career she also provided calculations to help with the Apollo Moon landing and the start of the Space Shuttle program.

Dorothy Vaughan

Dorothy Vaughn became the first African American manager at NASA. As a supervisor, Dorothy stood up for her fellow female “human computers” and gained the trust of many of the white employees. 

Melba Roy Mouton

Melba Roy Mouton served as Head Mathematician on the Echo Project. Echo 1 was one of the first satellites. Later, she became the Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA’s Trajectory and Geodynamics Division. 

Christine Darden

Christine Darden became one of the few African American female aerospace engineers at NASA. Her main assignment was creating a computer program for sonic boom. A sonic boom happens when an object moves faster than the speed of sound, making a really loud sound similar to thunder. Christine’s job was to learn how to make the sound boom not so loud. Her twenty-five years of work would help NASA launch quiet, but super fast planes known as X-planes in 2016. 

More Women in Stem

African American Women Pioneers in STEM Books

Learn about African American Women Pioneers in STEM who shaped the world like Dr. Ida Gray, Mary Eliza Mahoney, R.N., Bessie Coleman and many more.

This BOOK includes:

• short, easy-to-read biographies for ages 8-11 with illustrations

• a timeline of events

• a glossary to help deepen a child’s vocabulary and comprehension

The ACTIVITY BOOK also has over 35 activity pages which include coloring, word search, crossword puzzle, mazes, and much more. A special section teaches and encourages further research.