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Happy 99th

edited August 2017 in Off-Topic
Retired NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson turned 99 today. Plotted the trajectories for John Glenn (1962) and the Apollo 11 moon mission (1969).

Today it's still all about numbers: Bits and bytes. 1s and 2s. The binary code. All related. Tech boom. Tech wreck. Nasdaq above 5,000 again - 20 years later.

This lady worked with slide-rules. She probably dreamed about them in her sleep. They were common in schools back than. I never understood one. But just the sight made me tremble.

http://tellmystory.com.ng/‪happy-99th-birthday-katherine-johnson-nasa-mathematician-who-calculated-the-trajectory-of-the-apollo-11-mission/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hidden-no-more-katherine-johnson-a-black-nasa-pioneer-finds-acclaim-at-98/2017/01/27/d6a6feb8-dd0f-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html?utm_term=.ff59fcf49663

Comments

  • Thanks for posting the references. Great to see some of the real pioneers getting recognition -- a different time for sure.

    (BTW I still have my slide rule from freshman year -- it was/is the fancy wood/ivory version. Never could quite part with it.)
  • Good stuff, Hank.

    Speaking of earlier NASA work, there is a fantastic, outstanding new documentary out on Voyager. Was on PBS this past week, repeats on Sept. 13, and can be streamed here.

    Carl Sagan's lines about Earth as "a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam" features prominently at the end, from one of the last pics (Pale Blue Dot) from V-1. One of the technicians at first thought it really was a mote of dust, and tried to brush it off the image.
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