How African-American Women Got Us To the Moon

If you’re looking for a family activity this weekend, check out “Hidden Figures,” a film that tells the overlooked story of the African-American women who played a vital role at NASA in the early days of the US space program.

Before we had modern computers that could perform gratuitously difficult calculations on the fly, spacecraft trajectories had to be solved with hand-written calculations, with lives literally depending on those predictions. While the men and women on the front lines have been thoroughly acclaimed over the years, the specialized group of African-American women who performed these mission-critical calculations hasn’t shared in the spotlight until now.

Hidden Figures (2016) - IMDb

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 37 wins & 85 nominations. See more awards " Cast overview, first billed only: As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S.

You can listen to an interview with the author of the book “Hidden Figures” here:

Stay well, and clear skies!