The computers in any one section soon learn what the usual type of calculation required of them would be. Most of the work coming from the engineers is accompanied by a memo of calculating instructions or word-of-mouth explanations. In general, however, the group head would reduce this more complicated work down to tabular form requiring rather routine operations before it would be given to the machine operator. On the other hand, some of the calculations are sent to the computers in the form of complicated formulas which necessitate a knowledge of trigonometry and sometimes of mathematics involving the calculus. The computers read off the liquid levels and complete the analysis. Most tunnels have means for taking photographs of banks of nearly a hundred manometers at a time. There is a large amount of simple calculation required in the work here at NACA. But I found a video of one of the models they used in action, a 1956 Friden STW 10 - Youtube taking a square root. I wish the film had had just a bit more on those mechanical calculators. A set of five-place logarithmic tables and trigonometric tables is also provided, together with a few scale, triangle and French curves. for the type of computer who has some mathematical background the type of work required of her could probably be better done on the calculating machine.Įach computing section has one light-table for tracing purposes. The computers were also furnished with 20 inch (log-log duplex) slide rules. The automatic calculator is usually the Friden or Marchant. The automatic computing machines and Comptometers cost over $500.00 each.
#Katherine johnson nasa calculations how to
The women in these roles knew how to organize computational work and how to do so quickly without making mistakes. Data reduction and analysis were carried out with the help of calculators, slide rules, planimeters, drafting tools, and other instruments. Depending on the application, the data were smoothed, plotted, and interpolated. Computers gathered data by reading pressure values from manometers placed in the wind tunnel. the work of a computer required skill and judgment. Some great detail on their working environment comes from a 1942 memo reproduced in Hidden Figures and Human Computers | National Air and Space Museum, including these brief excerpts: The book also notes that the human computers used mechanical calculators. Update: See more on Glenn's orbit here: Where to look for historical or reconstructed orbit data for early NASA missions - Mercury-Atlas 6 for example worked thru every minute of what was programmed to be three-orbit mission, coming up with numbers for eleven different output variables, each computed to eight significant digits.
This example from the (most excellent) Hidden Figures book provides some details of the actual computations that she did, checking the IBM 7090 trajectory calculations for the first US orbital mission. The first memo, on orbit determination, that Katherine Johnson did, with a co-worker, is The Determination of Azimuth Angle at Burnout for Placing a Satellite over a Selected Earth Position 1960.
It is from, which is signed at the bottom "nmg - 2-3-53". In the article I found an example of the sort of calculations that these amazing human computers carried out. I was also fascinated by the film Hidden Figures, and a related article from New Scientist magazine " Gifted and black: The brilliant woman who got the US into space".
#Katherine johnson nasa calculations movie
(This is adapted from my question/answer at Day-to-day tasks of human computers, ala Hidden Figures movie - History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange)
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