Hidden Figures
By 
or “Celestial Training Device,” in 1962. Credit: NASA / Langley Research Center
Today the (male) NASA adminstrator, Bill Nelson, accepted Congressional Gold Medals from the (male) Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, on behalf of
- Katherine Johnson, in recognition of her service to the United States as a mathematician
- Dr. Christine Darden, for her service to the United States as an aeronautical engineer
- In commemoration of the lives of Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, in recognition of their service to the United States during the space race
- In recognition of all the women who served as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and NASA between the 1930s and the 1970s.
Legislation was introduced by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson on Feb. 27, 2019, H.R.1396 – Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act – was signed into law later that year. I don’t know why it’s take five years to actually award the medals.
One might have thought that the House of Representatives or NASA might have found descendents of those women to accept the awards. Five years would be plenty of time.
Nelson mentioned one woman in the audience as part of his couple hundred words.
We continue this legacy, as one member of the audience here with us does every single day – the remarkable Andrea Mosie.
Andrea, who has worked at NASA for nearly 50 years, is the lead processor for the Apollo sample program. She oversees the Moon rocks and lunar samples NASA brought back from Apollo, 842 pounds of celestial science! These samples are national treasures. So is Andrea.
Whew. Now the men can get back to work.
Cross-posted to Nuclear Diner