Which physicist calculated the trajectory for John Glenn’s 1962 orbital flight?

Katherine Johnson calculated the trajectory for John Glenn’s 1962 orbital flight.

Johnson worked as a mathematician at NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and later at NASA. For Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission, she checked the electronic computer’s orbital calculations by carrying out the mathematics herself. Glenn reportedly asked that she verify the numbers before he flew.

The mission launched on February 20, 1962, and made Glenn the first American to orbit Earth. Johnson’s work involved orbital mechanics, including the relationships among launch conditions, spacecraft position, velocity, and reentry timing.

Johnson also contributed to calculations for the Apollo program and the Space Shuttle program. Her achievements became widely known after the 2016 book and film Hidden Figures, although the film dramatizes some events and combines or simplifies certain details about NASA’s staff.