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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Shetterly say was one of Katherine Goble Johnson's "great talents?"
(a) Her ability to grasp ideas quickly.
(b) Her charm.
(c) Being in the right place at the right time.
(d) Her ability to make friends with anyone.

2. What was the name of America's first manned space project?
(a) Project Mercury.
(b) Project Scout.
(c) Apollo.
(d) Challenger.

3. What was the purpose of the document titled "Introduction to Outer Space" that was prepared by President Eisenhower's Advisory Committee on Science?
(a) The document was used as a teaching tool for new engineers.
(b) The document was used as a recruiting tool for NASA.
(c) The document explained spaceflight in layman's terms to make the case that a space program was in America's best interests.
(d) The document was used in high schools to teach space science.

4. Whose work was sabotaged by a mechanic?
(a) Thomas Byrdsong's work.
(b) Katherine Goble Johnson's work.
(c) Mary Jackson's work.
(d) Kaz Czarnecki's work.

5. Why did Langley employees hold meetings and social gatherings in their own Activities Building in the 1950s?
(a) Because it was the nicest building in the area.
(b) Because it was the only building in the area large enough to accommodate them.
(c) So they could avoid trying to find a public building that would allow a racially mixed group.
(d) Because they did not want people outside the laboratory to hear what they talked about.

6. What was the name of the first satellite the Russian's put into orbit?
(a) Mercury.
(b) Sputnik.
(c) Apollo.
(d) Red One.

7. What position was Dorothy Lee subbing in when she impressed the branch chief with her math skills and earned her permanent position in his branch?
(a) Bookkeeper.
(b) Computer.
(c) Secretary.
(d) Engineer.

8. Where was Katherine Goble Johnson when she found out about the jobs available at Langley for black women?
(a) In a bus station.
(b) At a wedding.
(c) At church.
(d) At the laundromat.

9. What did Executive Order 10925, signed by President Kennedy, call for?
(a) Desegregation of the military.
(b) Abolition of the Jim Crow laws.
(c) Affirmative action.
(d) Desegregation of schools.

10. Besides fearing an attack, what bothered Americans about Russia launching Sputnik?
(a) Americans were humiliated that Russia had beat them to space.
(b) Americans believed Russia had stolen plans for its satellite from America.
(c) Americans believed Russia was using the satellite to monitor their communications.
(d) Americans were only weeks away from launching a manned spacecraft.

11. What important research had the men in The Flight Research Division presented just weeks before Katherine Goble Johnson was sent to work there?
(a) Research on space flight.
(b) Research on slotted wind tunnel walls.
(c) Research on air turbulence.
(d) Research on the control of fighter planes.

12. Who coauthored Mary Jackson's first report?
(a) Kaz Czarnecki.
(b) Dorothy Vaughan.
(c) Katherine Goble Johnson.
(d) R.T. Jones.

13. What percentage of the world's population did NACA's chief legal counsel say was "colored" in a memo written in 1956?
(a) 46%.
(b) 80%.
(c) 75%.
(d) 55%.

14. What rumor about the astronauts spread around the Hampton Institute campus?
(a) That the astronauts were contributing to the students' organizing for social change.
(b) That there would be a black man on the first space flight.
(c) That the astronauts were going to join the lunch counter sit ins.
(d) That they were racist.

15. Who were the Greensboro Four?
(a) Four women in West Computing who were all from Greensboro.
(b) Engineers who designed the Mercury capsule.
(c) Black leaders who helped integrate schools.
(d) Students who sat at a segregated lunch counter.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Dorothy Vaughan reinvent her career after the Analysis and Computation Division was created?

2. How long were schools in Prince Edward closed due to defunding to avoid segregation?

3. What was the name of Mary Jackson's son who entered into the soap box derby race?

4. What branch of the military did Katherine Goble Johnson's second husband serve in?

5. Who was the division chief of The Flight Research Division when Katherine Goble Johnson was sent to work there?

(see the answer keys)

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