22 quotes
Anticipation for the IBM Machine
Al Harrison
Where’s the machine?
Ruth
Any day now, Mr. Harrison.
Al Harrison
Any day now. What’s it called? The initials...the letters?
Ruth
IBM.
Paul Stafford
International business machine.
Al Harrison
Space is business?! I need a mathematician.
Understanding the Limitations of Redstone Rocket
Paul Stafford
How did you know the Redstone couldn't support orbital flight? That's classified information; it's top secret.
Katherine Johnson
Well, it's no secret why the Redstone tests keep failing. It's fine for sub-orbital flight, but it can't handle the weight of the capsule and push it into space. Numbers don't lie.
Al Harrison
And you figured all that out with this? Half of that is redacted.
[reading the censored test results documents]
Katherine Johnson
Well, what's there tells a story if you read between the lines. The distance from launch to orbit, we know. Redstone mass, we know. Mercury capsule weight, we know. And the speeds are there, and the data.
Al Harrison
You did the math.
Katherine Johnson
Yes, sir. I look beyond.
Al Harrison
And how did you know about the Atlas rocket? That's not math. That data's not here. Like he said, it's classified.
Katherine Johnson
...I held it up to the light.
Al Harrison
You held it up to the light?
Katherine Johnson
Yes, sir.
Al Harrison
...Well, there it is. "Atlas". What's your name?
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Gobal.
Al Harrison
Are you a spy, Katherine?
Katherine Johnson
Am I what?
Al Harrison
I said, are you a Russian spy?
Katherine Johnson
No, sir. I'm not Russian.
Ruth
She's not Russian, sir.
Al Harrison
Alright, then, we have nothing to lose, here. Give her everything she needs to work on Shepherd's trajectories, without redaction. Are we clear on that?
[to Stafford]
Paul Stafford
Are we sure about this?
Al Harrison
What's the issue, Paul? You heard her, she's not a spy.
Paul Stafford
I–I just don't think it's a good idea.
Al Harrison
You know what I think is a good idea? Darker ink. I think darker ink is a good idea. Ruth, could you pass that along?
Ruth
Yes, sir.
Al Harrison
Thank you, Katherine.
Katherine Johnson
Thank you, sir.
[leaves with Ruth]
Al Harrison
This interrogation's over.
[after Ruth and Katherine leave, looks to Paul]
Challenging Barriers to Achieve Dreams
Karl Zielinski
Mary, a person with an engineer's mind should be an engineer. You can't be a computer the rest of your life.
Mary Jackson
Mr. Zielinski, I'm a negro woman. I'm not gonna entertain the impossible.
Karl Zielinski
And I'm a Polish Jew whose parents died in a Nazi prison camp. Now I'm standing beneath a spaceship that's going to carry an astronaut to the stars. I think we can say we are living the impossible. Let me ask you, if you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer?
Mary Jackson
I wouldn't have to. I'd already be one.
Rethinking the Approach to Orbital Calculations
Katherine Johnson
The problem is when the capsule moves from an elliptical orbit to a parabolic orbit; There's no mathematical formula for that. Cause we can calculate launch and landing, but without this conversion, the capsule stays in orbit. We can't bring it back home.
Al Harrison
...Maybe we've been thinking about this all wrong.
Paul Stafford
And how's that?
Al Harrison
Maybe it's not new math at all.
Katherine Johnson
It could be old math: something that looks at the problem numerically and not theoretically. Math is always dependable.
Al Harrison
For you, it is.
Katherine Johnson
Euler's Method.
[takes a long look at the formulas, then gets an idea]
Paul Stafford
Euler's Method?
Katherine Johnson
Yes.
Paul Stafford
But that's ancient.
Katherine Johnson
But it works. It works numerically.
Understanding the Difference Between Separate and Equal
Dorothy Vaughan
Separate and equal are two different things. Just cause it's the way, doesn't make it right, understand?
Acknowledgment of Responsibility and Its Limits
Al Harrison
If I said I was sorry, I'd be saying it all day.
Unexpected Car Trouble in a Difficult Situation
State Trooper
Not a great place for the three of y'all to be havin car trouble.
Mary Jackson
We didn't pick the place, Officer, it picked us.
State Trooper
You bein disrespectful?
[glaring at Mary]
Mary Jackson
No, sir.
State Trooper
You have identification on ya?
Katherine
We sure do. We're just on our way to work. At Langley. NASA, sir.
Dorothy Vaughan
We do a great deal of the calculating getting our rockets into space.
State Trooper
All three of ya?
Mary Jackson
Yes, Officer.
State Trooper
NASA. That's somethin'. Had no idea they hired...
Dorothy Vaughan
There are quite a few women working in the Space Program.
[politely; the Trooper meant something else]
State Trooper
Damn Russians are watching us right now. Sputniks. You girls ever meet those astronauts? The Mercury Seven?
[turning his attention back]
Mary Jackson
Absolutely.
State Trooper
Alan Shepard? John Glenn?
Katherine Johnson
We work with those gentlemen all the time.
State Trooper
Those boys are the best we got. That's for sure. We have'ta get up there before the Commies do. Whole damn country's countin on em.
Dorothy Vaughan
That's for certain.
Mary Jackson
Hard to be of service broken down on the side of the road, though.
State Trooper
That's right. That's right. You need a tow or somethin'?
Dorothy Vaughan
No, thank you, Officer. I think I got it, right here. Just have to bypass the starter. That's a girl. We're all set.
[Dorothy touches the screwdriver to between the battery poles; the car starts.]
State Trooper
Hell, least I can do is give you an escort. Imagine y'all are runnin late to work.
Katherine Johnson
Oh, we wouldn't want to trouble you-
Mary Jackson
That would be wonderful, Officer.
State Trooper
Follow me.
Mary Jackson
I'm drivin'. Hurry up, Dorothy, before he changes his mind.
Dorothy Vaughan
Slow down, Mary! You're too close!
Mary Jackson
He said to follow him.
Dorothy Vaughan
Doesn't mean you hit him in the ass!
Katherine Johnson
Dear Lord... please... I don't even know where to begin!
Mary Jackson
I'll tell you where to begin: three "colored" women are chasing a white police officer down a highway in Hampton, Virginia, 1961. Ladies, that there is a God-ordained miracle!
Katherine Johnson
Next time, I'm taking the bus!
Unity in Achieving Goals
Al Harrison
We get to the peak together, or we don't get there at all.
Misunderstandings About Women's Capabilities
Lieutenant Colonel Jim Johnson
They let women handle that sort of... That's not what I mean.
[sees Katherine looking offended]
Katherine Johnson
What do you mean?
LTC Jim Johnson
I'm just surprised at something so taxing.
Katherine Johnson
Oh Mr. Johnson, if I were you, I'd quit talking right now.
LTC Jim Johnson
I don't mean no disrespect.
Katherine Johnson
I will have you know, I was the first negro female student at West Virginia University Graduate School. On any given day, I analyze the manometer levels for air displacement, friction and velocity, and compute over ten thousand calculations by cosine, square root and, lately, analytic geometry. By hand. There are twenty bright, highly capable negro women in the West Computing Group, and we're proud to be doing our part for the country. So yes, they let women do some things at NASA, Mr. Johnson. And it's not because we wear skirts. It's because we wear glasses. Have a good day.
First to Arrive Sets the Rules
Al Harrison
Whoever gets there first will make the rules.
Advocating for Equality and Appreciation
Katherine Johnson
How can you be possibly ogling these white men?
Mary Jackson
It's equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color.
Encouragement in a Challenging Environment
Dorothy Vaughan
Thatta girl.
[gets the IBM computer properly working]
Obstacles to Progress and Equality
Mary Jackson
Every time we get a chance to get ahead they move the finish line. Every time.
Acting Right Ensures Being Right
Dorothy Vaughan
If you act right - you are right. That's for certain.
Bathroom Breaks and Workplace Challenges
Al Harrison
Where the hell have you been? Everywhere I look you're not where I need you to be, and it's not my imagination. Now, where the hell do you go everyday?
Katherine Johnson
The bathroom, sir.
Al Harrison
The bathroom. The damn bathroom. For forty minutes a day? What do you do in there? We are T-minus zero here; I put a lot of faith in you.
[With rising anger]
Katherine Johnson
There's no bathroom for me here.
Al Harrison
What do you mean, "there's no bathroom" for you here?
Katherine Johnson
There is no bathroom. There are no colored bathrooms in this building, or any building outside the West Campus, which is half a mile away. Did you know that? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself! And I can't use one of the handy bikes. Picture that, Mr. Harrison. My uniform, skirt below the knees and my heels. And simple string of pearls. Well, I don't own pearls. Lord knows you don't pay the colored enough to afford pearls! And I work like a dog day and night, living on coffee from a pot NONE OF YOU WANNA TOUCH! So, excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day.
Al Harrison
There you have it. No more colored restrooms. No more white restrooms. Just plain old toilets. Go wherever you damn want, please. Preferably closer to your desk. Here at NASA... We all pee the same color.
[he throws the crowbar on the floor]
Unsung Heroes of the Space Mission
Taglines
Meet the women you don't know, behind the mission you do
Understanding Perspectives in a Shared Space
Vivian Mitchell
Despite what you may think, I have nothing against y'all.
Dorothy Vaughan
I know. I know you probably believe that.
Identifying Katherine's Role in the Mission
John Glenn
Let's get the girl to check the numbers.
Al Harrison
The girl?
John Glenn
Yes, Sir.
Al Harrison
You mean Katherine?
John Glenn
Yes, Sir, the smart one. And if she says they're good, I'm ready to go.
Striving for Equality in Education and Opportunity
Mary Jackson
I plan on being an engineer at NASA, but I can't do that without taking them classes at that all-white high school, and I can't change the color of my skin. So I have no choice, but to be the first, which I can't do without you, sir. Your Honor, out of all the cases you gon hear today, which one is gon matter hundred years from now? Which one is gon make you the first?