About the book "Hidden Figures" (Margot E. Shetterly)

Kimmo Huosionmaa

In 1960's NASA hired black American female teachers to make calculations for the Moon program, and those women were in the key role to making the moon flight possible, we must realize that this book is not telling the stories about the women who made an extremely important job for NASA. It tells the story that there are more men and women who are played in the key role in many fascinating and awesome missions on Earth. Those women were in the key role in ending the racial separation, and the advancing equality between genders. In the modern day, every position of the persons should depend on the personal skills, without the influence of gender or the color of the skin. 

The technical staff is not many times mentioned in the texts, what are told about space- and other programs. But when we are going to deep inside those missions, and the history of calculations, we are facing the thing, that in those times, there were no calculators, and the major question is that who makes those calculations, what is always needed for many technical missions. 

Many of those men and women, who made the atomic bomb possible in the "Project Manhattan" are ever mentioned in the stories about this weapon. And in the history of Cryptology, there are no mentions, how the formulas and calculations of the Enigma's positions were made. If some persons are saying that computers are making the calculations, that person forgets something. 

The calculation formulas are always made by the programmer or mathematician, and then everything would be perfect. But without those formulas, the computers are unavailable to make calculations. Even the computers have the most powerful processors in the world, they have no capacity for productive thinking, and they need a man to make those formulas for the calculations. 

There were many claiming that NASA used also autistic persons to make those formulas, what was very important for the Apollo program. If the main motor would not be started precisely right time, the spacecraft would be crushed to Moon or Earth, or it could fly pass the object. Those things were very important for Apollo mission successful passing. 

Apollo-astronauts made the awesome job, but there were many people, whose names were ever mentioned. Those persons worked for motors, airlocks, ventilates and electronics. Many people in the world have ever seen the names of those persons, whose successful work was addicted to those formulas.