From Hidden to Modern Figures
The film “Hidden Figures,” based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, focuses on three African-American women who were essential to the success of early spaceflight. NASA embraces their legacy and strives to include everyone who wants to participate in ongoing exploration.
Hidden Figures is a movie based on actual events. While the movie dramatizes some aspects, it is true to the struggles of the women at the center of the story. The victories for racial and gender rights were not achieved easily or quickly, and our work is not done. Today, NASA strives to make sure their legacy of inclusion and excellence lives on.
As seen in the movie Hidden Figures, NASA has a long-standing cultural commitment to excellence that is largely driven by data, including data about our people. And our data shows progress is driven by questioning our assumptions and cultural prejudices—by embracing and nurturing all the talent we have available, regardless of gender, race or other protected status, to build a workforce as diverse as its mission. This is how we, as a nation, will take the next giant leap in exploration.
As a world leader in science, aeronautics, space exploration and technology, NASA has a diverse mission that demands talent from every corner of America, and every walk of life. With the human computers portrayed in Hidden Figures, NASA began leading the way in building a workforce as diverse as its mission—a workforce that will use the International Space Station to help put humans on Mars; make exciting discoveries about our universe; carry out research that will create greener, safer, quieter and faster air travel; monitor the health of our home planet; and develop cutting-edge technologies to explore our solar system and improve life on Earth.
In the 1960’s, NASA was on an ambitious journey to the moon, and the human computers portrayed in Hidden Figures helped get us there. Today, NASA is on an even more ambitious journey to Mars. We are building a vibrant, innovative workforce that reflects a vast diversity of discipline and thought, embracing and nurturing all the talent we have available, regardless of gender, race or other protected status.
Biographies
Katherine G. Johnson
Being handpicked to be one of three black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools is something that many people would consider one of their life’s most notable moments, but it’s just one of several breakthroughs that have marked Katherine Johnson’s long and remarkable life.
Mary W. Jackson
Mary’s own path to an engineering career at the NASA Langley Research Center was far from direct. A native of Hampton, Virginia, she graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942 with a dual degree in Math and Physical Sciences, and accepted a job as a math teacher at a black school in Calvert County, Maryland.
Dorothy Vaughan
Dorothy Vaughan came to the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in 1943, during the height of World War II, leaving her position as the math teacher at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, VA to take what she believed would be a temporary war job.
Christine Darden
Darden came to NASA Langley in 1967 as one of the last generation of "human computers." After six years, she was promoted to aerospace engineer and became internationally known for her research into supersonic aircraft noise.
NASA Administrator Shares Hidden Figure Congressional Gold Medal Remarks
“The pioneers we honor today, these Hidden Figures – their courage and imagination brought us to the Moon. And their lessons, their legacy, will send us back to the Moon…”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson saluted the women who contributed to the space race, including the NASA mathematicians who helped the first astronauts land on the Moon, during the Sept 18, 2024, Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal ceremony held in Washington, DC.
Read His Remarks
NASA’s Modern History Makers
The NASA’s Modern History Makers series highlights members of NASA Glenn’s workforce who make our remarkable missions possible.
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A Hidden Figure of History
Hidden Figures actress Janelle Monáe introduces Mary Jackson, who worked at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia during Project Mercury. Learn about NASA’s Hidden Figures and its Modern Figures making history today.
Visit the Modern Figures Video PlaylistModern Figures: Education Resources
The NASA Modern Figures Toolkit is a collection of resources and educational activities for students in grades K-12. Resources highlighted include videos, historical references and STEM materials.
Get the Toolkit about Modern Figures: Education Resources
