Computing and Guidance Pioneers

Pioneers whose contribution was the mathematics, computing or software that made spaceflight navigation and guidance possible: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, the NASA mathematicians and engineers whose orbital calculations were critical to the earliest American crewed flights, Margaret Hamilton, who led development of the Apollo guidance computer's onboard flight software, and Poppy Northcutt, the first female engineer in NASA's Mission Control. Belongs here: a pioneer chiefly known for calculation, computing or software rather than physical hardware or program direction. Does not belong here: a pioneer chiefly known for engineering a vehicle, grouped under Spacecraft and Rocket Engineers, or for administering or directing a program, grouped under Mission Control and Program Leadership.