{"id":41098,"date":"2017-01-07T16:49:29","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T21:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-395860"},"modified":"2023-06-27T11:00:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T15:00:54","slug":"modern-figures-frequently-asked-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people-of-nasa\/modern-figures-frequently-asked-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Figures: Frequently Asked Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>1. Why is NASA participating in Hidden Figures?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA participated under a Space Act Agreement with 20th Century Fox in activities around the movie Hidden Figures, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, to provide historical guidance and advice during the filmmaking process. The story chronicles the life of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and her colleagues who were human computers critical to the success of John Glenn\u2019s Friendship 7 mission in 1962.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency\u2019s collaboration with the publicity campaign is a springboard for exciting conversations about the history of and diversity at NASA, both past and present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. Why has NASA been hiding this story for so long?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like many other great stories of NASA employees, NASA has been sharing this story for years. In fact, the author of the book, Margot Lee Shetterly, has noted the title is \u201csomething of a misnomer.\u201d The women at the center of the story were not so much hidden as unseen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first systematic work on the Langley women computers began in 1990. A successful book and major motion picture brings the story to a much larger and more diverse audience than NASA could achieve on our own. Hidden Figures has given us is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to tell a remarkable and important story of NASA\u2019s past, as well as those of our progress and ambitions for the future of diversity and inclusion at NASA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. Is the movie character Al Harrison based on an actual NASA employee?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Al Harrison character (played by Kevin Costner) is largely based on Robert C. Gilruth, the head of the Space Task Group at Langley Research Center and later the first director of what is now the Johnson Space Center in Houston. However, the organizational structure of the Space Task Group was much more complicated and was changing quickly during the time period when the movie takes place.  For clarity in the movie, the management structure is compressed and the composite character Al Harrison was created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. Is the movie character Vivian Mitchell based on an actual NASA employee?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The character Vivian Mitchell (played by Kirsten Dunst) reflects the views and attitudes of some of the white women who served in managerial roles at that time, but she does not represent an actual historical person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. Is the movie character Paul Stafford based on an actual NASA employee?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The character Paul Stafford (played by Jim Parsons) is a composite of a number of engineers with whom Katherine Johnson worked. In her time with the Space Task Group there was considerable turnover of personnel.  Much of her early work on trajectories was done with Ted Skopinski, but there was a team of engineers with whom she worked at the time, including Skopinski, John Mayer, Alton Mayo, Al Hamer and Carl Huss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6. Is the movie character Karl Zielinski based on an actual NASA employee?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mary Jackson did have a white male mentor named Kazimierz \u201cKaz\u201d Czarnecki. Kaz was from New Bedford, Massachusetts, but in many other ways the depiction of Karl Zielinski is closely aligned with the real Kaz Czarnecki\u2014especially his recognition of a remarkably underemployed talent and the long-term mentorship. Mary Jackson organized Kaz\u2019s retirement party when he left NASA in 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. Did NASA actually delay the launch of John Glenn\u2019s Friendship 7 so that Katherine Johnson could manually calculate his orbital trajectory?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This scene takes a bit of dramatic license, but John Glenn did ask for \u201cthe girl\u201d (referring to Katherine Johnson) to manually check the calculations generated by the electronic computers that were critical to the mission. This occurred well before the launch, and calculating the output for 11 different variables to eight significant digits took her a day and a half.  Her calculations matched the computer\u2019s exactly, giving John Glenn, and everyone else, the confidence that the critical computer software was reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"nasa-gb-align-full width-full maxw-full padding-x-3 padding-y-0 hds-module hds-module-full wp-block-nasa-blocks-related-articles\">\t\t<section class=\"hds-related-articles padding-x-0 padding-y-3 desktop:padding-top-7 desktop:padding-bottom-9\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"w-100 grid-row grid-container maxw-widescreen padding-0 text-align-left\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-4\"><h2 style=\"max-width: 100%;\" class=\"width-full w-full maxw-full\">Explore More<\/h2><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-row grid-container maxw-widescreen padding-0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-4 margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0 desktop:padding-right-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people-of-nasa\/katherine-g-johnson\/\" class=\"color-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black minh-mobile\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?w=232\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg 2092w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=232,300 232w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=768,992 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=793,1024 793w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=1189,1536 1189w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=1586,2048 1586w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=310,400 310w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=465,600 465w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=697,900 697w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=929,1200 929w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/katherinegjohnson.jpg?resize=1548,2000 1548w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"padding-right-0 desktop:padding-right-10\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"subheading margin-bottom-1\">7 min read<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-1\"><h3 class=\"related-article-title\">Katherine G. Johnson<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"display-flex flex-align-center label related-article-label margin-bottom-1 color-carbon-60\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"display-flex flex-align-center margin-right-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg version=\"1.1\" class=\"square-2 margin-right-1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" width=\"16px\" height=\"16px\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" style=\"enable-background:new 0 0 16 16;\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><g><g><path d=\"M8,0C3.5,0-0.1,3.7,0,8.2C0.1,12.5,3.6,16,8,16c4.4,0,8-3.6,8-8C16,3.5,12.4,0,8,0z M8,15.2 C4,15.2,0.8,12,0.8,8C0.8,4,4,0.8,8,0.8c3.9,0,7.2,3.2,7.2,7.1C15.2,11.9,12,15.2,8,15.2z\"\/><path d=\"M5.6,12c0.8-0.8,1.6-1.6,2.4-2.4c0.8,0.8,1.6,1.6,2.4,2.4c0-2.7,0-5.3,0-8C8.8,4,7.2,4,5.6,4 C5.6,6.7,5.6,9.3,5.6,12z\"\/><\/g><\/g><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Article<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t7 years ago\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-4 margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0 desktop:padding-right-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/general\/nasa-langleys-modern-figures-reflect-on-changing-times-hidden-figures\/\" class=\"color-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black minh-mobile\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?w=300\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=400,300 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=600,450 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=900,675 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=1200,900 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lrc-2017-h1_p_modernfigures-031003.jpg?resize=2000,1500 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"padding-right-0 desktop:padding-right-10\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"subheading margin-bottom-1\">6 min read<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-1\"><h3 class=\"related-article-title\">NASA Langley\u2019s Modern Figures Reflect on Changing Times, \u2018Hidden Figures\u2019<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"display-flex flex-align-center label related-article-label margin-bottom-1 color-carbon-60\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"display-flex flex-align-center margin-right-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg version=\"1.1\" class=\"square-2 margin-right-1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" width=\"16px\" height=\"16px\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" style=\"enable-background:new 0 0 16 16;\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><g><g><path d=\"M8,0C3.5,0-0.1,3.7,0,8.2C0.1,12.5,3.6,16,8,16c4.4,0,8-3.6,8-8C16,3.5,12.4,0,8,0z M8,15.2 C4,15.2,0.8,12,0.8,8C0.8,4,4,0.8,8,0.8c3.9,0,7.2,3.2,7.2,7.1C15.2,11.9,12,15.2,8,15.2z\"\/><path d=\"M5.6,12c0.8-0.8,1.6-1.6,2.4-2.4c0.8,0.8,1.6,1.6,2.4,2.4c0-2.7,0-5.3,0-8C8.8,4,7.2,4,5.6,4 C5.6,6.7,5.6,9.3,5.6,12z\"\/><\/g><\/g><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Article<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t7 years ago\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-4 margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0 desktop:padding-right-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/glenn\/nasas-modern-history-makers-carrie-green\/\" class=\"color-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black minh-mobile\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?w=300\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png 1105w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?resize=300,144 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?resize=768,370 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?resize=1024,493 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?resize=400,193 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?resize=600,289 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/carrie-green-thumbnail.png?resize=900,433 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"padding-right-0 desktop:padding-right-10\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"subheading margin-bottom-1\">2 min read<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-1\"><h3 class=\"related-article-title\">NASA’s Modern History Makers: Carrie Green<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"display-flex flex-align-center label related-article-label margin-bottom-1 color-carbon-60\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"display-flex flex-align-center margin-right-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg version=\"1.1\" class=\"square-2 margin-right-1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" width=\"16px\" height=\"16px\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" style=\"enable-background:new 0 0 16 16;\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><g><g><path d=\"M8,0C3.5,0-0.1,3.7,0,8.2C0.1,12.5,3.6,16,8,16c4.4,0,8-3.6,8-8C16,3.5,12.4,0,8,0z M8,15.2 C4,15.2,0.8,12,0.8,8C0.8,4,4,0.8,8,0.8c3.9,0,7.2,3.2,7.2,7.1C15.2,11.9,12,15.2,8,15.2z\"\/><path d=\"M5.6,12c0.8-0.8,1.6-1.6,2.4-2.4c0.8,0.8,1.6,1.6,2.4,2.4c0-2.7,0-5.3,0-8C8.8,4,7.2,4,5.6,4 C5.6,6.7,5.6,9.3,5.6,12z\"\/><\/g><\/g><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Article<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 year ago\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1. Why is NASA participating in Hidden Figures? NASA participated under a Space Act Agreement with 20th Century Fox in activities around the movie Hidden Figures, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, to provide historical guidance and advice during the filmmaking process. The story chronicles the life of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and her colleagues who were [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":174744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"374926","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":["307833","262295","320394"],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2885,2671,2668],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[4294],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Modern Figures: Frequently Asked Questions","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people-of-nasa\/modern-figures-frequently-asked-questions\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people-of-nasa\/modern-figures-frequently-asked-questions\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/30765657104_968e4f0f51_o.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/30765657104_968e4f0f51_o.jpg"},"articleSection":"People of NASA","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah A. Loff"}],"creator":["Sarah A. Loff"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["People of NASA","Diversity at NASA","NASA History"],"dateCreated":"2017-01-07T21:49:29Z","datePublished":"2017-01-07T21:49:29Z","dateModified":"2023-06-27T15:00:54Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Modern Figures: Frequently Asked Questions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people-of-nasa\/modern-figures-frequently-asked-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/30765657104_968e4f0f51_o.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2017-01-07T21:49:29Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"People of NASA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"People of NASA,Diversity at NASA,NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Sarah A. Loff\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":4,"time_ago":"7 years","featured_image":{"id":174744,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/30765657104_968e4f0f51_o.jpg","title":"“Hidden Figures” Panel Discussion","alt":"Cast members of Hidden Figures film and NASA officials seated at press conference","caption":"In the Press Site auditorium at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the media participate in a news conference with key individuals from the upcoming motion picture \"Hidden Figures.\" From the left are: former CNN space correspondent John Zarrella, serving as moderator; Ted Melfi, writer and director of \u201cHidden Figures\u201d; Octavia Spencer, who portrays Dorothy Vaughan; Taraji P. Henson, who portrays Katherine Johnson in the film; Janelle Mon\u00e1e, who portrays Mary Jackson; Pharrell Williams, musician and producer of \u201cHidden Figures\"; and Bill Barry, NASA's chief historian. The movie is based on the book of the same title, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women who worked for NASA as human \"computers.\u201d Their mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of Project Mercury missions including John Glenn\u2019s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375940,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41098\/revisions\/375940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41098"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=41098"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=41098"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=41098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}