Hello, my name is Katherine Johnson. Today is the day I’m launching Freedom 7. It will be the first US spacecraft to launch in space with a human pilot.

I grew up in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. I was raised by my teacher mom and farmer dad. During my time, there was a lot of discrimination toward black people and women. At only 13, I got into high school, and at 15 I got into college.

When I graduated, I heard that there were pools of women at NASA that did calculations and said the engineers needed work. I immediately applied, but it had already filled its quota. But I applied again and got hired.

On May 5, 1961, Freedom 7 was launched with the first human to ever pilot it, Alan Shepard. Before this, everyone at NASA underestimated me, but when they saw my numbers and calculations, they asked me to help with the project. That's how the first US Spacecraft piloted by a human was launched.