Hidden Figures - Ch 19-23 - Historical Part VII

RUSSIANS LAUNCH FIRST ASTRONAUT TO ORBIT THE EARTH - YURI GAGARIN -

APRIL 12, 1961

(page 167, HF)

U.S. LAUNCHES FIRST ASTRONAUT IN SPACE - ALAN SHEPARD - MAY 5, 1961 (page 168-9, HF)

Remember, Katherine Johnson's calculations helped to launch and land Alan Shepard and Freedom 7 space craft. Below is a fascinating video, part actual footage and part animation, that shows the trajectory from launch to landing in Florida waters.

Launch - straight up into space and back down (no orbit of Earth yet). Alan Shepard's flight lasted only 15 minutes.

(note: video speeds up twice in the middle to shorten recording time)

Link Links to an external site.

AMERICA'S FIRST ORBITAL FLIGHT AROUND EARTH - ASTRONAUT JOHN GLENN - FEBRUARY 20, 1962 (pages 174-184, HF)

John Glenn wouldn't leave on this first orbital launch without checking with Katherine. Recall when he said, "Get the girl to check the numbers" (178). As Margo Shetterly states, "If Katherine Johnson said the numbers were good, he was ready to go" (178).

Katherine was very nervous, but ". . . she had no doubt that her numbers were correct" (181).

This was the first orbiting around the Earth for America, and over "135 million people" were watching John Glenn in his space capsule (181). The scariest part of the entire flight was when he was returning into Earth's atmosphere and lost contact with ground control - for 14 minutes! (182) See part of the flight below.

Link Links to an external site.

EXCELLENT ARTICLE ON THE INTEGRATION OF NASA - 1950S AND BEYOND

Beginning with integration of Langley with Dorothy Vaughan and the other Black female mathematicians during World War II and then the growth of NACA to NASA, the first (male) African American astronaut to fly into space occurred in 1983. The first (white) woman in space occurred in 1983 also.

DIVERSITY AT NASA Links to an external site.

CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH ON WASHINGTON - MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AUGUST 28, 1963 - MONUMENTAL MARCH FOR CIVIL RIGHTS (pages 186-87).

Link Links to an external site.

AMERICANS LANDING ON THE MOON - JULY 20, 1969 (CHAPTER 23)

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NEXT IS THE READING ASSIGNMENT FOR CHAPTERS 19 - 23 (END)