Black female space scientists receive US Congress’ highest honor

Four African-American female space scientists were recognized with Congress’s highest honor at a medal ceremony Wednesday.

The Congressional Gold Medal was presented to the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden at the U.S. Capitol. Darden watched the ceremony from her Connecticut home.

In addition, a medal was awarded to all women who worked as mathematicians, engineers and “human computers” in the American space program from the 1930s to the 1970s.

“In honoring them, we honor the best of our country’s spirit,” said writer Margot Lee Shetterly, whose book “Hidden Figures” was adapted into a film in 2016.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics — the precursor to NASA — hired hundreds of women to perform mathematical calculations for space missions. The black women who were hired worked in a segregated women’s mathematics unit at what is now NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia.

Johnson’s handwritten calculations helped John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Vaughan rose to become NASA’s first black female supervisor, and Jackson was the space agency’s first black female engineer. Darden is best known for her research into sonic booms.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and the newsletter. Activate notifications and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.