Suddenly these overlooked math whizzes had shots at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam's call, moving to Hampton, Virginia, and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.Įven as Virginia's Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley's all-Black West Computing group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War and complete domination of the heavens. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South's segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America's aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.īefore John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space.Īmong these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Now a major motion picture starring Taraji P. The phenomenal true story of the Black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space.
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