Just saw Hidden Figures and was knocked out

[jodymarie aimee]

Just saw Hidden Figures and was knocked out. It was magnificent. And it was near impossible to not relate it to what is happening in America right now. 1961 a bad time for equal rights, a grand time for science and math. Oh, what a wonderful country we can be folks.

NASA's chief historian, Bill Barry, explains that the film, which has been nominated for a slew of awards, depicts many real events from their lives. "One thing we're frequently asked," he says, "is whether or not John Glenn actually asked for Katherine Johnson to 'check the numbers.'" The answer is yes: Glenn, the first American in orbit and later, at the age of 77, the oldest man in space, really did ask for Johnson to manually check calculations generated by IBM 7090 computers (the electronic kind) churning out numbers at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.


Though the film shows Glenn asking for Johnson's approval from the launch pad, she was actually called in well before the launch. Calculating the output for 11 different variables to eight significant digits took a day and a half. Her calculations matched the computer's results exactly. Not only did her conclusions give Glenn and everyone else confidence in the upcoming launch, but they also proved the critical computer software was reliable.
hidden-figures-costner-painting.jpg
To add to the accuracy of the film, NASA consulted on the film's script, answering questions and providing photographs, documents and films for the filmmakers. NASA even loaned a few items for use as props in the movie. For example, look out for the painting on the wall of NASA's offices (pictured here over Kevin Costner's shoulder).

That painting was part of a series depicting the history of flight from Icarus to the 20th century, which actually hung on the walls of the real Langley Lab in the NACA days. The paintings were in storage and in need of restoration when they were loaned to the movie and placed on set in Atlanta as a link to the real offices.

The film compresses the sequence of real events to set the story around 1961, when Glenn's first mission took place. "If the film was a documentary, many of the events would have been spread out over the late 1940s through the early 1960s," says Barry. For example, a lot happened in 1958, the year NACA became NASA: Mary Jackson qualified as NASA's first black engineer, Katherine Johnson joined the newly formed Space Task Group, and segregation ended.

In real life, the head of the Space Task Group was a man named Bob Gilruth. Unlike the fictional character played by Kevin Costner, he didn't dramatically take a crowbar to a restroom sign.

"Desegregation of bathroom and dining facilities happened gradually and quietly over the 1950s at Langley lab," explains Barry. Langley lab was a federal facility but was located in Virginia, which had state-mandated segregation. "There was some tension between local and federal 'rules' on this issue," says Barry.

Segregation effectively ended when specialised workers were distributed among offices and facilities instead of being grouped together in pools. The segregated West Computing Unit, which comprised African-American women, was eliminated in the spring of 1958.

Women like Johnson, Jackson and Vaughan blazed the trail for America in space and for black women back on Earth. From the hidden figures of the past to the scientists and engineers of today, you can go to NASA's website to meet the diverse range of extraordinary people with their eyes on the stars.

[m-lekktor]

1. I loved it but then I am a huge fan of Taraji Henson because of her role on "Empire". nt

[Jane Austin]

2. I saw it three weeks ago

and it's still with me, and I tell everyone about it.

[jodymarie aimee]

4. I came out of the theatre

and wondered what day it was...really...it took me away so. I went with 2 older scientists as a favor to them. I got the prize.

[spooky3]

3. Wonderful movie. I saw it and La La Land and thought

that Hidden Figures was more deserving of Best Picture.

[yeoman6987]

6. Oh I do to

It's a great movie. I saw lion, Fences, Florence, and hawksaw ridge. Hidden figures deserves best picture in my opinion. I was not overly excited over fences myself. Lion was interesting and quite amazing. Florence was great. I never thought I'd like that movie but did. Hawksaw ridge was great as well.

[StubbornThings]

5. Really? I found it to be a very average film.

The story was nice though.

Glad you liked. Apparently many other people did as well.

[dembotoz]

20. Agreed loved the story and movie but not best picture

[logosoco]

7. I can't wait until I can rent it from Amazon.

I don't do movie theaters anymore unfortunately. I remember even in the mid 70s, I wanted to be a forest ranger but some test that I took to help us determine our careers said I should be a secretary! I avoided office work my whole life I think because of that!

Seems like, as someone who has always been interested in science, since the Internet I have learned much more about how women have been in science all along, but they kinda got pushed behind the spotlight!


Also, today, Neil Tyson said most of the equations on the chalk boards in the movie were correct!

[QED]

8. The book is great!

[question everything]

9. Saw it this afternoon too

and both of us remembered how it was the Russians jumping ahead of us to space that got the government to pump money into science and engineering studies - that both of us followed. And, of course, all the advances in science made since then.

We sometimes wonder whether we need another cold war to push us back into encouraging kids to study science and engineering, to have government pumps money into graduate programs and into national institutes.

Several weeks ago we saw Loving - also taking place in Virginia at that time - and we though how courageous these people were to stand up in that racial, hostile environment to pursue their dreams.

[qwlauren35]

21. If I knew...

what, besides war, would get us out of this math/science slump, I would jump on it. 35 years ago, I had a boyfriend who became an aerospace engineer. He wanted to be out in the stars. Those guys probably design satellites, and nobody hears about it because it's not "cool".

Maybe Hidden Figures will remind women that if they have a mind for it, they can doing anything they want in the sciences. And maybe it will remind men that when a woman comes along who can out-think them, they need to get over it, so that the work can get done.

[malaise]

10. Loved it

Rec

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I likewise loved that movie.

I have the book on hold.

As someone who is very OCD about getting details right, what stands out to me in that film is that no one is smoking, even though at least three quarters of them should be, and all the men wear wedding rings, which almost no man wore at that time.

[jodymarie aimee]

12. boy, you are spot on about the cigs

as it was 1962 when the surgeon general came out. That is when my parents stopped cold turkey. The cars were so beautiful, much of the era was accurate, right down to the tacky ivory plastic ring box. I could feel that box in my hands.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. To be a bit picky, the surgeon general's report on smoking

came out in 1964. I honestly don't understand why anyone has taken up smoking since then.

I have an older sister (just turned 70) who is in the hospital once again, essentially because of complications from smoking. Ongoing health issues for decades. A serious heart attack at age 43. Stents, and bypass surgery.

I have a couple of nieces who smoke, and they're the very ones who a few years ago were totally shocked to learn that the older sister is only a year and a half older than I am. Because she looks at least a decade older. I may read them the riot act. I know I'm going to phone my younger son who has smoked on and off and tell him he'd better never ever again light one up.

End of rant.

[jodymarie aimee]

13. the scientist I went with is 77 and she said

you weren't allowed to smoke on NASA grounds, she was there at that time.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. People smoked in meetings and offices during Apollo days

I was there.

[whopis01]

18. The consoles in the launch control center had ashtrays built into them

during those days.

Even as late as the 90s smoking was allowed on NASA grounds. Not in the buildings, but certainly on the grounds. It probably still is today. I don't know because I haven't been there since the mid 90s.

[yagotme]

15. Saw the previews,

looked pretty good. Hopefully will catch it here soon.

[AgadorSparticus]

16. We just saw this movie too and it was fantastic!!! I cried.

This movie could not have come out at a better time. I see the parallels of our times and it gave me hope. I am So thankful for these pioneering giants.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Haven't Seen It Yet, But Want To

Thanks for the positive review. Now i know i was right about being fascinated by the story.