2017 National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award

In early March, the NASA Space Grant Directors honored Dr. Katherine Johnson with the 2017 National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award. With assistance from the Virginia Space Grant Team, Mary Sandy, the Director of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, was able to present the award to Dr. Johnson in her home. They also got a chance to interview Dr. Johnson during the time of award presentation. 

Dr. Katherine Johnson is a physicist and mathematician who made many contributions to the United States’ aeronautics and space programs. Known for her decades of work at NASA, she was accurate with computerized celestial navigation and Dr. Johnson also calculated the trajectories, launch windows, and emergency back-up return paths for many flights of Project Mercury.

Past Recipients of the National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award include:

Lloyd Bentsen, James Van Allen, Peter Diamandis, John Glenn, John Young,
Leon Lederman, Vera Rubin, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sally Ride, Julius Dasch, Ellen Ochoa, and Bill Nye.

Attached are the videos of Dr. Johnson:

Reminiscences of Dr. Johnson

The Presentation of the Award to Dr. Johnson