Characters
She was the first Black woman to work for NACA (now NASA). She made a great impact on the company and inspired future generations, even though she was not initially credited for her work.
Who is Dorothy Vaughn?
The time period during the 1950s when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were competing and making history.
What is the Space Race?
An achievement by working hard to get an aircraft to exceed the speed of Mach 1. This required wind tunnel testing and complex calculations. Mathematicians had to fail to achieve this.
What is breaking the sound barrier?
A type of figurative language found in the book, for example, “She dressed each day as if she were on her way to a meeting with the president.”
What is a simile?
Her husband unexpectedly passed away. However, she only gave herself, along with her three daughters, one month to grieve. They stayed strong, and one day, she met someone who made her feel herself again. Soon, she got remarried and had never been happier.
Who is Katherine Johnson?
The segregated facilities at NACA used to discriminate against the main characters and others daily. Mirium Mann helped get these taken away.
What are "colored" restrooms and cafeteria seating?
A historic space mission that successfully landed the first humans on the moon, claiming a victory in the Space Race.
What is Apollo 11?
A type of figurative language found in the book, such as “Sending a man into space was a tall order, but it was the part about returning him safely to Earth that kept Katherine Johnson and the rest of the Landle employees awake at night.”
What is a metaphor?
She came from a large family and worked very hard to make her way up to one of the highest positions at NACA. While she was in high school, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.
Who is Christine Darden?
The building in Virginia where the main characters worked as mathematicians during the Space Race.
What is the NACA (NASA) Langley Research Center?
Breaking segregation barriers by allowing African American women mathematicians and engineers to use the same facilities, such as restrooms. They were recognized for their work and achievements.
What is gaining equal rights at NACA?
A type of figurative language found in the book with extreme exaggeration, “The whole building shook when the machine was in use…”
What is a hyperbole?
She became NACA's first African-American female engineer, primarily building planes. She helped the United States make a plane fly faster than the speed of sound.
Who is Mary Jackson?
The specific group at NACA that was made up of the smartest African American women.
What is the West Area Computing Unit?
The four main characters, who overcame segregation and gender inequality by attending college, went on to working at NACA and making history because of this.
What is attending classes at an all-white school as African American women?
A type of figurative language found in the book, shown here, when the readers know something the characters don't yet: “They were already working nights and weekends to prepare for six more scheduled Mercury flights. NASA still hadn’t completed its first orbital flight, and President Kennedy had promised they were going to send a man to the moon. Was that an impossible dream?”
What is dramatic irony?