NASA honors 'Hidden Figures' math hero Dorothy Vaughan, recognizes trailblazing women in space
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Many years before Susan Kilrain became a U.S. Navy TA-4J Skyhawk flight instructor and the second female NASA astronaut to pilot a space shuttle, her dad supported her youthful dreams during an era when groundbreaking women had to forge new paths in the space and aviation industries.
"At a time when women were doing traditionally 'women things' back in the early '60s, I went into my kitchen and told my father that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up," Kilrain recalled during a "Women in Space: Stories from Trailblazers" panel discussion last month at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
"And whatever stroke of magic he had, he didn't say, 'Girls can't be astronauts,' or, 'You're not smart enough,' or any of those things. He said, 'You can be anything you want to be.' And he was my biggest cheerleader all the way through," Kilrain said.
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"Every child on this planet should have somebody in their corner that tells them they can be whatever it is they want to be," she said, sparking applause.
In that vein, NASA officials will conduct a Friday ribbon-cutting ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston to rename Building 12 the “Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo.”
Labeled "a legendary human computer" by NASA, Vaughan became the agency's first African-American manager. She was assigned to a segregated all-black group of female mathematicians, who were originally required to use separate dining and bathroom facilities at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. She headed the unit from 1949 to 1958, during the Jim Crow era.
NASA honoring 'Hidden Figures' math hero
Vaughan was portrayed by Octavia Spencer in the 2016 movie "Hidden Figures," garnering Spencer an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Allison Schroeder, a Melbourne High graduate, co-wrote that screenplay. The film also garnered Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
After 1958, Vaughan joined NASA's new Analysis and Computation Division, where she became an expert FORTRAN programmer in "a racially and gender integrated group on the frontier of electronic computing," per her NASA biography.
"Vaughan’s personal commitment and determination during the Apollo missions advanced the agency’s current diverse workforce and leadership — particularly at Johnson — as human computers transitioned from Langley Research Center in Virginia to Houston, supporting Mission Control from Building 12," a NASA press release said.
"She was a steadfast advocate for the women who worked as human computers, and for all the individuals under her leadership," she said.
Friday's building-renaming event takes place on the eve of the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
She was Christa McAuliffe's 'Teacher in Space' backup
In July 1985, NASA officials selected Barbara Morgan as Christa McAuliffe's backup for NASA's Teacher in Space Project, which was organized to launch the first educator into space. Morgan spent months training with McAuliffe and the rest of the Challenger crew at Johnson Space Center. But McAuliffe and the crew lost their lives in the Challenger explosion in January 1986.
Twenty-one years later, Morgan flew into orbit as a mission specialist on shuttle Endeavour during STS-118 in August 2007. She served as educator, loadmaster, shuttle and station robotic arm operator, and flight deck crewmember for entry and landing, according to her NASA biography.
"When I was growing up, girls could grow up to become teachers, nurses, secretaries and moms," Morgan told the crowd during a "Women in Space: Stories from Trailblazers" panel.
However, when Morgan was a little kid, she said she became fascinated watching NASA's Apollo moon program — "but it wasn't something that girls did, so it didn't even occur to me that that might be something I could do."
Her opinion changed years later while teaching elementary school in McCall, Idaho. And she joined a sprawling field of more than 11,000 applicants vying for the Teacher in Space Program.
"As teachers, we're always looking at ways to tear down those four walls of the classroom, bring your students out to the world, and bring the world to your students. So, a whole bunch of us applied for that program. I was very lucky," Morgan said.
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Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA honors 'Hidden Figures' hero Dorothy Vaughan, female astronauts
