China News Service, February 25. According to the US Chinese website, on the 24th local time, NASA said that the legendary Catherine Johnson behind Apollo's moon landing died on the 24th at the age of 101.
Data Map: Traces of the Apollo series of probes landing on the moon's surface published by NASA.
NASA said in a statement: "Johnson has helped our country expand the frontiers of space, and she has also opened the door for women and people of color to explore space."
In 1953, Johnson began working at NASA's predecessor, the National Aviation Advisory Committee (NACA) Langley Laboratory in Virginia.
During her lifetime, she said that her biggest contribution to space exploration was "to perform calculations to help Apollo's moon landing plan be synchronized with the moon command and service module." So she was one of the meritorious figures who helped humans reach the moon in 1969.
It is reported that she is also the first woman in the flight research department to be commended for a research report written in collaboration with Ted Skopinski, which details the equations for orbital space flight.
NASA claims that Johnson also conducted an orbital analysis for Allen Shepard's 1961 Freedom 7 mission, the first manned space flight in the United States. In addition, she is known for her tremendous contributions to the first orbital space flight of the United States under the leadership of John Glenn.
Johnson also participated in the Space Shuttle and Earth Resources Satellite projects during his lifetime, and authored or co-authored 26 research reports.
It is reported that Johnson's story was filmed into the film "Hidden Figures", played by Taraji Hanson, which tells the story of women working at NASA during the space race. The film was nominated for the 2016 Oscar.