A simple turn of phrase was all it took for U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of Katherine Johnson's home state of West Virginia to capture the feeling in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

"It's been said that Katherine Johnson counted everything," she said. "But today we're here to celebrate the one thing even she couldn't count, and that's the impact that she and her colleagues have had on the lives of students, teachers, and explorers."

That sense of admiration and awe toward the legacy and impact of NASA's Hidden Figures was palpable Wednesday during a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony to honor the women's work and achievements during the space race.

Author Margot Lee Shetterly detailed the stories of the women from NASA Langley in her 2016 nonfiction book "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race." Though the book focused on NASA Langley, where Shetterly's father worked, it helped raise awareness of similar stories around NASA.

A film adaptation of the book starring Taraji Henson as Johnson, Octavia Spencer as Vaughan, and Janelle Monáe as Jackson came out later that year and further elevated the topic. NASA participated under a Space Act Agreement with 20th Century Fox in activities around the movie, to provide historical guidance and advice during the filmmaking process.

The medal citations were as follows:

Andrea Mosie, senior Apollo sample processor and lab manager who oversees the 842 pounds of Apollo lunar samples, accepted the medal awarded to all NASA's Hidden Figures. She began her career at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in the 1970s.

To read the complete articles, see:
'Hidden Figures' of the space race receive Congress' highest honor at medal ceremony(https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/19/us/nasa-hidden-figures-congressional-gold-medal/index.html)
NASA's Hidden Figures Honored with Congressional Gold Medals(https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/langley/nasas-hidden-figures-honored-with-congressional-gold-medals/)
NASA's 'Hidden Figures' awarded Congressional Gold Medals for pioneering space work(https://www.npr.org/2024/09/19/nx-s1-5119312/hidden-figures-women-nasa-space-congressional-gold-medal)
NASA's "Hidden Figures" honored in Congressional Gold Medal ceremony(https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasas-hidden-figures-congressional-gold-medal-ceremony/)