The Mercury-Atlas 6 mission launched #OTD in 1962. John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, circling 3 times in the Friendship 7 capsule.
John Glenn was skeptical about the computer controlled trajectory, and said he wouldn’t trust it until mathematician Katherine Johnson had checked it by hand.
Image Credit: NASA
Here is Katherine Johnson working at her desk later that same year.
John Glenn's response to her double-checking the Friendship-7 flight plans: "If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go."
Image Credit: NASA, NASA Langley Research Center
@mcnees
Or as was portrayed in "Hidden Figures, "
"Has the girl checked the numbers? "
Robert McNees
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