Watch the Trailer for Hidden Figures, About the Black Women Behind NASA’s Early Days

Based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures follows the true story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson (Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe)—the Black women who made NASA’s success possible during the heated early days of the space race. Based on the trailer, it’ll not only put the spotlight on the accomplishments of (and made possible by) these women, but it’s going to be a lot of fun, too—not to mention uncomfortably relevant to today with that last line.

From Shetterly’s site: “Most Americans have no idea that from the 1940s through the 1960s, a cadre of African-American women formed part of the country’s space work force, or that this group—mathematical ground troops in the Cold War—helped provide NASA with the raw computing power it needed to dominate the heavens.

“HIDDEN FIGURES: THE AMERICAN DREAM AND THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE BLACK WOMEN MATHEMATICIANS WHO HELPED WIN THE SPACE RACE recovers the history of these pioneering women and situates it in the intersection of the defining movements of the American century: the Cold War, the Space Race, the Civil Rights movement and the quest for gender equality.”

Mark this one down on your calendar (wow are you organized) for January 13, 2017.

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.