"Hidden Figures" Tour KSC

In the blockhouse at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Pad 14, cast and crew members of the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures" listen to a briefing on the pad which was the location of the launch of John Glenn and three other astronauts who flew orbital missions during Project Mercury. In the foreground, from the left, are Octavia Spencer, who portrays Dorothy Vaughan, Taraji P. Henson, who portrays Katherine Johnson in the film, Janelle Monáe, who portrays Mary Jackson, and Pharrell Williams, musician and producer of “Hidden Figures." The movie is based on the book of the same title, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women who worked for NASA as human "computers.” Their mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of Project Mercury missions including Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017.