Octavia Spencer, who portrays Dorothy Vaughan in the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures," looks through a periscope in the blockhouse at Launch Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The pad which was the location of the launch of John Glenn and three other astronauts who flew orbital missions during Project Mercury. 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.
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NASA ID
KSC-20161212-PH_KLS02_0212
Date Created
December 12, 2016
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Photographer
NASA/Kim Shiflett
Location
Complex 14
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