Katherine johnson biography video

You see that light, moving across the sky? It doesn’t look like much now, does it?

But actually, up there, that’s a spacecraft. And the man inside it – well, he’s a gentleman I work with.

He is the first American ever to orbit around the Earth.

At this moment in time, he’s travelling at seventeen thousand five hundred and forty four miles per hour. Exactly… How do I know that? Oh, it’s my job to know!

My name is Katherine Johnson.

I am a mathematician for NASA’s space program.

Katherine johnson biography video for kids

And the astronaut who’s risking his life up there - he asked for me personally to check every single calculation we’d made - so he felt safe to blast off.

Because any mistake in our work - even a tiny mistake - could lead to disaster!

I was born in West Virginia in the United States of America, in 1918.

When I was at school, I was so good at math, I got better than the teachers!

I had to go to a different school, further away. And I started university when I was just 15 years old!

When I finished school