Renowned NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson Dead at 101 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed her death via Twitter on Monday.
Jim Bridenstine, via Twitter Jim Bridenstine, via Twitter Johnson calculated rocket trajectories and Earth orbits for early space missions.
According to NBC News, she was the first woman in the Flight Research Division to receive credit as an author of a research report.
Prior to making history with NASA, Johnson became the first of three Black students admitted to West Virginia University after it was integrated in 1939.
Her work as a Black woman in aerospace was portrayed in the 2016 hit film, 'Hidden Figures.'
The film was nominated for a best picture Academy Award and grossed more than $200 million world wide.
Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by Barack Obama in 2015.