Katherine Johnson Children: Meet Joylette Goble, Katherine Goble, Constance Goble

Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the United States space program. She was the mother of three daughters Joylette Goble, Katherine Goble and Constance Goble.

The daughters spoke about their childhood in an interview with Today. Growing up, the sisters said their mother often would show them satellites in the night sky.

“She would know at what angle and what time we can see it,” they recalled. “She loved her work. She always talked about the joy of learning.”

Sadly, according to legacy.com, Katherine’s eldest daughter with James, Constance Goble, died back in 2010 at just 67 years old.

Katherine Johnson was part of a group of African-American women mathematicians known as “human computers” who worked at NASA during the early years of the space program.

Notably, Johnson was involved in calculating trajectories, orbits, and reentry paths for spaceflights. Her work was instrumental in the success of the first manned space missions, including John Glenn’s historic orbit around the Earth in 1962.

Despite facing racial and gender discrimination during her career, Katherine Johnson’s expertise and perseverance broke down barriers and paved the way for other women and minority mathematicians and scientists.