Moon Math

To truly appreciate Johnson’s achievements, it’s necessary to understand the world she lived in. Johnson is black, and grew up during a time when segregation, or separating people by skin color, was legal in much of the South. African-Americans were forced to use separate bathrooms, attend separate schools, and eat at separate restaurants.

Because of a labor shortage following World War II, Johnson and dozens of other black women were hired to work at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Johnson started in 1953 as a “human computer.” In this job, Johnson and her female colleagues crunched the numbers in the equations used to design, test, and fly planes and spacecraft reliably and safely. Some equations had up to 35 variables! Together, their results helped launch rockets into space and safely transport astronauts into space—and back home again.

Complete the diagram of the moon lander’s flight plan by drawing the angles that Johnson calculated. Line HMQ marks the horizon, or the line where the moon and sky appear to meet. Use point M (the moon’s surface) as the vertex for all angles.

The moon lander traveled from left to right. When it was 35° above the moon’s horizon line, it began its landing. Draw a ray with a point of B to create this angle. What’s this angle’s name? 

Forty seconds later, the spacecraft began tilting toward the moon and had moved an additional 16° above the horizon. Draw a ray with point C to create a 16° angle above the angle you drew in No. 1. What is the name of this new angle?

Another 75 seconds later, the spacecraft was in position to detach the lander at 94° from the angle you drew in No. 2. Draw a ray with point D to make the angle and name it. 

What is the measurement of ∠DMQ that you created? Explain how you determined this.