RecapWhole-unit checklist

Dorothy Vaughan and colleagues at Langley. — West Area computers, Langley. NASA. Public domain.

I can…

explain the job of a human computer give Vaughan’s 1949 role (supervisor) give Jackson’s 1958 achievement (engineer) explain Johnson’s work on Friendship 7 (1962) name two fictional or compressed film elements use core words (and C1 extension if that is my path) narrate with past perfect and relative clauses answer the key question at B1, B2 or C1 length

Key dates

1943: Dorothy Vaughan joins Langley
1949: first Black supervisor at NACA (Vaughan)
1953: Katherine Johnson starts at Langley
1957: Sputnik 1
1958: NASA created; Mary Jackson first Black female engineer; segregated facilities abolished at Langley
1961: Alan Shepard’s flight (Johnson’s trajectory work)
1962: Friendship 7; Johnson verifies numbers
2015: Presidential Medal of Freedom (Johnson)
2016: Shetterly’s book and Melfi’s film

Show answers · model short answer

Three Black women at Langley built careers as human computers, supervisors and engineers while working under segregation. Vaughan led West Area Computing from 1949. Jackson became NASA’s first Black female engineer in 1958. Johnson verified numbers for Glenn’s 1962 orbital flight. The 2016 film honours them but invents or compresses some scenes; NASA sources keep the facts clear.