NASA's headquarters in Washington D.C. will officially be named after Mary Winton Jackson, the space agency's first black female engineer. Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a statement
With the official naming of the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters, we ensure that she is a ‘hidden figure’ no longer. Jackson’s story is one of incredible determination. She personified NASA’s spirit of persevering against all odds, providing inspiration and advancing science and exploration.
Jackson spent her early career at NASA as a research mathematician and played a pivotal role in putting the United States into outer space. After years of her work in engineering, she changed roles to help recruit and cultivate the talent of women in the field of aerospace engineering. After her passing in 2005, she was posthumously awarded America's highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal.
In 2016, her story was put on the big screen in the film 'Hidden Figures' where she was portrayed by Janelle Monáe.