Mathematician and aerospace engineer Mary Jackson was born #OTD in 1921. She worked at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics until it was succeeded by NASA in 1958. Jackson then became the first Black woman to work as a NASA engineer.
Bio: https://www.nasa.gov/content/mary-w-jackson-biography
Image: NASA
The same year Mary Jackson joined NASA, she co-authored her first report for the agency.
You can view a copy here: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930085290
An investigation has been made to determine the transition characteristics of a group of smooth, sharp-nosed cones varying from 10 degrees to sixty degrees in included apex angle over a Mach number range from 1.61 to 2.20 and a range of Reynolds number per foot from about 1.5 x 10 to the 6th power to 8 x 10 to the 6th power. Increasing the cone angle is shown to decrease slightly the transition Reynolds number, whereas the effects of changes of Mach number and unit Reynolds number are negligible. When transition occurred within 15 to 20 percent of the model length from the base there was a dropoff in transition Reynolds number. (author)
Mary Jackson was of course one of the main characters in "Hidden Figures," where she was played by Janelle Monae.
Here she is, in a photo taken in the 1950s, with other engineers and employees at NACA's Supersonic Pressure Tunnel facility.
Image: NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/4x4-supersonic-pressure-tunnel-staff
Here is a brief biography of Mary Jackson written for NASA by "Hidden Figures" author Margot Shetterly.
Image: NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/content/mary-w-jackson-biography
A few years ago, in 2021, NASA named their Washington, D.C. headquarters in honor of Mary Jackson.
Image: NASA
If you have not seen it, I recommend the movie.
hXXps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures
The movie "Hidden Figures" always brings me happy tears.
It is all about what society can do if we work together.
Radi
Robert McNees
SpaceHistory, etc
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