"The My Itty-Bitty Bio series are biographies for the earliest readers. This book examines the life of astronaut Sally Ride in a simple, age-appropriate way that will help children develop word recognition and reading skills. Includes a timeline, primary sources, and informative backmatter."--

Follows Dorothy Vaughan's path from math teacher to "human computer" as well as her success as first African American supervisor at her company.

Explores the previously uncelebrated but pivotal contributions of NASA's African American women mathematicians to America's space program, describing how Jim Crow laws segregated them despite their groundbreaking successes. Includes biographies on Dorothy Jackson Vaughan (1910-2008), Mary Winston Jackson (1921-2005), Katherine Colman Goble Johnson (1918-), Dr. Christine Mann Darden (1942-).

"What's it like to travel among the stars? What can we learn by doing science experiments in space? When Bonnie Dunbar spotted Sputnik traveling across the sky from where she stood on her family's farm, she knew that's what she wanted to do when she got older. In Space Adventurer: Bonnie Dunbar, Astronaut, readers ages 5 to 8 learn about the hard work Bonnie tackled throughout her life to make it aboard NASA's space shuttle Challenger. From planting...

Discusses how in the 1950s, black women made critical contributions to NASA by performing calculations that made it possible for the nation's astronauts to fly into space and return safely to Earth.-- Edwards and Harris discuss the critical contributions black women made to NASA in the 1950s. They performed by hand the calculations that made it possible for the nation's astronauts to fly into space and return safely to Earth. Their efforts made it...

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as "Human Computers," calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts by Jim Crow laws, these "colored computers," as they were known, used slide rules, adding machines, and pencil and paper to support America's...

Examines the life of mathematician Katherine Johnson, from her early education and career before working for NASA to her integral role in the space program.

Sally Ride soared into outer space on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983, the youngest astronaut and the first U.S. woman in space. Just 32 years old that year, this California girl was already an accomplished astrophysicist when NASA chose her from over 8,000 applicants to join its team of astronauts. Since then, Sally Ride has spent over 343 hours in space.