The black women scientists and mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race will be honored with congressional gold medals for their contributions, The Hill reported on Sunday.
Katherine Johnson, Dr. Christine Darden, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, who inspired the 2016 film “Hidden Figures,” will receive the medals, the country’s highest civilian award.
Vaughan died in 2008, while Jackson passed away in 2005.
President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday a bill which states that the stories of these women “exemplify the experiences of hundreds of women who worked as computers, mathematicians, and engineers” and whose “handmade calculations played an integral role in aircraft testing during World War II, supersonic flight research, sending the Voyager probes to explore the solar system and the United States landing the first man on the lunar surface.”
A fifth medal will be awarded to honor all women who contributed to NASA during the Space Race, according to CNN.
Sen. Kamala Harris, one of the lawmakers who introduced the bipartisan bill, called the women "pioneers" and an inspiration to black women across the nation.
"The groundbreaking accomplishments of these four women, and all of the women who contributed to the success of NASA, helped us win the space race but remained in the dark far too long," she said.
Earlier this year, a street near NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. was also renamed "Hidden Figures Way" to honor the four women.
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