第2329期:Black Women Mathematicians Receive Congressional Medals

The United States Congress has honored four women known as the “hidden figures” of the space race with its highest civilian award. 

美国国会向四位被称为太空竞赛“隐藏人物”的女性颁发了最高平民奖。 

The Congressional Gold Medal was presented Wednesday to the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden at the U.S. Capitol. Only Darden is still living. The 82-year-old watched the ceremony from her Connecticut home. 

周三，国会金质奖章在美国国会大厦颁发给了凯瑟琳·约翰逊、多萝西·沃恩、玛丽·杰克逊和克里斯汀·达登的家人。只有达顿还活着。这位 82 岁的老人在康涅狄格州的家中观看了仪式。

Lawmakers recognized the four Black mathematicians for their critical work early in the space program. 

立法者认可了四位黑人数学家在太空计划早期所做的关键工作。 

They also presented a medal to all the women who worked as mathematicians, engineers and "human computers" in the American space program from the 1930s to 1970s. 

他们还向 20 世纪 30 年代至 1970 年代在美国太空计划中担任数学家、工程师和“人类计算机”的所有女性颁发了一枚奖章。 

Margot Lee Shetterly wrote the 2016 book Hidden Figures about the Black women mathematicians who supported the space program in the 1960s. It was made into a movie of the same name in 2017. 

玛格特·李·谢特利 (Margot Lee Shetterly) 于 2016 年撰写了《隐藏人物》一书，讲述了 20 世纪 60 年代支持太空计划的黑人女数学家的故事。2017年被拍成同名电影。 

"By honoring them, we honor the very best of our country's spirit," Shetterly said at the ceremony. 

谢特利在仪式上说：“通过向他们致敬，我们就是向我们国家最优秀的精神致敬。

”The early space program employed hundreds of women to work as mathematicians at what is now NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. But, the Black mathematicians were not permitted to work with the white mathematicians because of racial separation policies at the time. The Black researchers’ work went unrecognized for years. 

早期的太空计划雇用了数百名女性在现在的弗吉尼亚州美国宇航局兰利研究中心担任数学家。但是，由于当时的种族隔离政策，黑人数学家不被允许与白人数学家一起工作。黑人研究人员的工作多年来一直没有得到认可。 

The team used pencils, slide rulers and mechanical calculating machines to calculate the paths of rockets and orbiters in the atmosphere and in space. The path is called the trajectory. 

该团队使用铅笔、滑尺和机械计算机来计算火箭和轨道飞行器在大气层和太空中的路径。该路径称为轨迹。 

“Our office computed all the trajectories,” Katherine Johnson told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in 2012. “You tell me when and where you want it to come down, and I will tell you where and when and how to launch it,” she explained. 

“我们的办公室计算了所有的轨迹，”凯瑟琳·约翰逊在 2012 年告诉《弗吉尼亚飞行员报》。“你告诉我你希望它在何时何地降落，我会告诉你在哪里、何时以及如何发射它，”她 解释道。

In 1961, Johnson did trajectory research for the Freedom 7 Mission, the first to carry an American into space. The next year, she checked the calculations made by a new NASA computer for astronaut John Glenn’s planned orbits around the planet. 

1961 年，约翰逊为自由 7 号任务进行了轨迹研究，这是第一次将美国人送入太空。第二年，她检查了美国宇航局一台新计算机对宇航员约翰·格伦计划绕地球轨道进行的计算。 

John Glenn did not trust the new computer. Days before the launch, he told NASA, “Get the girl to check the numbers.” John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. 

约翰·格伦不信任这台新计算机。发射前几天，他告诉美国宇航局，“让女孩检查一下数字。” 1962 年，约翰·格伦 (John Glenn) 成为第一个绕地球轨道飞行的美国人。 

Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 – the nation's highest civilian honor. Her work at NASA helped open doors for many other women to take part in the space program. 

约翰逊于 2015 年被授予总统自由勋章——美国公民的最高荣誉。她在美国宇航局的工作为许多其他女性参与太空计划打开了大门。 

Dorothy Vaughan rose to become NASA's first Black female supervisor. Mary Jackson was NASA's first Black female engineer. And Christine Darden is best known for her sonic boom research. 

多萝西·沃恩 (Dorothy Vaughan) 成为美国宇航局第一位黑人女主管。玛丽·杰克逊是美国宇航局第一位黑人女工程师。克里斯汀·达顿 (Christine Darden) 因其音爆研究而闻名。