Legendary NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson dies at 101

PanARMENIAN.Net - Katherine Johnson, one of the history-making, barrier-breaking NASA mathematicians depicted in "Hidden Figures", died Monday, February 25, the administrator of NASA said, according to NBC News.

She was 101.

"Johnson helped our nation enlarge the frontiers of space even as she made huge strides that also opened doors for women and people of color in the universal human quest to explore space," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.

In a tweet, he called Johnson "an American hero."

Johnson was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson in the Oscar-nominated 2016 film about trailblazing black women whose work at NASA was integral during the space race.

The film also stars Octavia Spencer as the mathematician Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as the engineer Mary Jackson.

The work of the women altered the country's history but their names were largely unknown until the movie received acclaim. Jackson died in 2005, and Vaughan died in 2008.

Johnson worked for NASA for more than three decades, retiring in 1986. “I loved going to work every single day,” Johnson said at the time.