#spaceexploration – by @astro.kenzie on Instagram
NASA mathematicians hand calculating the trajectories for the flights of the Mercury astronauts in 1961. As I watched the movie \ »Hidden Figures\ » last night, I was given some insight into the toils that these mathematicians had to endure. NASA had only received its first IBM in 1961, and prior to this, people had to do all of the calculations for the trajectories. The movie explained how these brilliant minds had to contrive \ »math that did not exist\ » in order to ensure that the Mercury 7 could successfully fly their missions. These people were really the reason why we had a space program. Have a great day!