Katherine Johnson Contribution

People have heard about the most famous contributors to space travel such as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. However, the woman who made space travel possible, Katherine Johnson, has not been properly recognized for her contribution to the exploration of space. Johnson was a NASA mathematician who who calculated the trajectories of objects in space. Despite the oppression she underwent because of her race and gender, she was still able to accomplish many feats and refused to be ignored. She was a math genius and had a deep understanding for projectile motion, the path of an object curving in the air. Her calculations made the Shepard 1961 mission a success and John Glenn was able to circle the Earth unharmed. One of Johnson's greatest successes was the Apollo 11, which was able to travel to the moon and back. She was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in …show more content…
It begins with the history of the element; it was one of the first metals to be traded as currency and, in some cultures, was considered to be more valuable than gold. One ounce of it today would be approximately the weight of five quarters and equal to about seventeen dollars. Then the article goes into its scientific uses; it could trigger rainstorms if combined with iodine and can fall as snow or water, depending on the surrounding climate. The substance is then revealed to be used in machinery as a part of a circuit that sends electrical signals. This clues the reader in on the fact that it is a good electrical conductor. The fourth clue is that it can be polished into a mirror-like, gleaming surface, however, due to the cost of the element, people now use aluminum. The fifth and final hint as to what the element is, describes its uses as a cavity filler in the 1800s. All of these facts lead the reader to the conclusion that silver is the mystery