Transcription
This genius girl named Catherine, at the age of just 10 years, she was able to solve the most difficult math problems in elementary school. The principal then called Catherine's parents and told them that she had received a scholarship to go straight to the second grade of junior high school.
Not only that, she was also admitted to the best black junior high school. In 1926, racism in America was still very severe. All public facilities were distinguished by the color of their skin, such as toilets, hospitals, schools, and even wash basins where black and white people wash their hands.
The principal and teachers were very proud of Catherine's intelligence. They believed that when she grew up, she would be a great person and prove that black people deserve to be treated equally.
35 years later, Catherine is now an adult. That afternoon, the car she was driving with her two friends, Dorothy and Mary, broke down. They had to hurry to get to work. They work in the offices of NASA, or the United States Space Agency, as accountants.
In the midst of confusion, suddenly the police came in. Those days, black people were highly suspicious. They were even forbidden to stop on the road carelessly. If any black people stopped, they would be arrested. Mary then informed him that the three of them worked at NASA and that if they were late, the American rocket could fail to fly. Hearing this explanation, the police were then willing to help them.
While at the NASA office, government staff were seen watching the news about Russia's imminent launch of a rocket. The news then irritated the presidential envoy. He then demanded the head of NASA, named Harrison, to quickly make a rocket to compete with Russia.
Arriving at the office, they then went straight to work. While they were distributing assignments, suddenly their boss, named Michelle, came and then ordered Catherine to move to the space research division.
When Michelle leaves, Dorothy rushes after her. She asked for a promotion to become room supervisor because she had worked as a room supervisor for many years, but her salary was still calculated like a regular staff salary and never increased a penny. However, Michelle arrogantly thought that Dorothy was against it and threatened to fire her if she continued to demand a promotion, and this made Dorothy very disappointed.
On the other hand, Mary's superiors in the rocket assembly division were confused why her homemade rockets always failed to withstand the heat of the Earth's atmosphere. Mary then tried to explain in detail about the source of the problem with the rocket. Hearing the analysis, her boss was so amazed and then said that he would promote Mary to become a rocket assembly technician. Her boss didn't care about Mary's gender or skin color. In such an emergency, he only needed experts to win the competition against Russia.
Meanwhile, Catherine has just transferred to the space research division. She was even mistaken for a cleaning service when she met Harrison. Without further ado, Harrison immediately asked, "Will Catherine be able to solve the rocket launch coordinate data formula?" She confidently replied that she would be able to solve it in a matter of hours. Seeing that confidence, he then tested Catherine to check the report of one of the accounting staff named Paul.
But while at work, suddenly she wanted to pee. Because there were no black toilets in this division building, she had to run to his former division building, which was 800 meters away.
After that, she then continued to work. While working in the new division, everyone always looked at her with a cynical look. After work, she still has to take care of her three daughters. Since her husband and father died, Essie became the breadwinner of the family alone. Fortunately, there is still her mother who every day helps look after the children at home.
Sunday morning, after worship, Dorothy and Mary tried to match Catherine with a soldier named Jim. Even though Catherine refused, she was left alone on a walk. Jim said, "I did not expect NASA to accept black female employees." That sentence offended Catherine. Holding back annoyance, she said, "The reason NASA accepted her was because she was the first black student to receive a scholarship to the best white university in Virginia, so Jim can imagine how smart she is." Jim then fell silent. In his heart, he said, "Why is she angry?"
The next day at the office, when she wanted to get coffee, she saw a small coffee pot that said "Specifically for blacks." In her heart, she could only be patient and then she went back to work. Not long after, Paul came to give the formula file. When examined, she was confused why so many scribbles, as if he was deliberately trying to bully her so she couldn't finish the formula. But she wasn't out of her mind. As he used the light of the lamp to read the scribbles, it turns out that the data in the file is the same as the data on the whiteboard. Because it's not obvious, Essie then chose to work directly on the blackboard.
When she went to the toilet, Harrison, Paul, and the entire research team were confused by Catherine's count. So far, they have worked hard to complete the formula, but in just a matter of minutes, she managed to finish it herself.
Inside Harrison's room, Catherine was being interrogated by several employees. Paul asked, "How can the formula be solved even though he had crossed out a lot of data?" She then explained in detail how she did it. After hearing that, Harrison then reprimanded Paul and told him that from now on, he had to provide as much data as possible so that this project could be completed quickly.
When they were resting, Michelle came over to them. She asked if it was true that Mary wanted to be promoted to a rocket assembly technician. Michelle informed that Mary's application must be rejected because she has not fulfilled one main requirement, namely that Mary is not a white graduate of the university. "No matter how high your knowledge is, if you don't graduate from a white university, you will never be a technician at NASA." Although hurt, she was silent without being able to do anything.
A few days later, at noon, Dorothy was seen taking her two children to the city library. But while she was choosing a book, she was reprimanded by a woman. The woman shooed her away, saying that this library was not a place for black people. After leaving on the bus, she took out a book that was secretly taken from the library. She advised her two children, "When you grow up, if you want to be respected, you must be smart."
One night, Dorothy threw a party at her house. There, Catherine met Jim. At that time, Jim tried to apologize if his words at the first meeting hurt her. He then invited Catherine to a romantic dance to make amends. Jim's sincerity made her melt. But in the middle of the dance, suddenly heard radio news that reported that Russia has successfully launched a rocket and managed to explore the planet one full circle. For a moment, the atmosphere became silent.
Early in the morning at the office, Harrison announced that "From this moment on, everyone would have to work overtime until the rocket they built could fly into space successfully." But days later, even though everyone has been working overtime continuously, rocket tests still fail.
On the next day, NASA bought a sophisticated machine to calculate the coordinates of a point formula automatically. But unfortunately, there is not a single NASA employee who can operate it. At night, when nobody found out, there was a new calculating machine. Dorothy sneaked into the engine room, then studied how the machine worked all night long.
The next day, she explained, "With this new engine, the jobs of black accountants could be in jeopardy of being replaced." Meanwhile, Mary went to court to apply for admission to one of the white men's universities. After getting the trial schedule, she rushed back to the office and then told her boss, "I don't want to give up. I will try my best to get into a white man's university to become a rocket engineer."
A few days later, Harrison wondered why Catherine often left during work hours, even though it's not time to rest.
Looked at Catherine's drenched condition, he is very angry. He wondered why she had to leave work every day for even 40 minutes. With teary eyes, Essie let out the anger that she had been holding back for so long. "40 minutes per day, she spent just for the sake of the toilet. Black people were not allowed to ride bicycles, so every day she had to go to the old division building for 800 meters in high heels because in this building, there are no toilets for black people." Harrison must have never known that there was a black coffee pot here. "As smart or as good as her work, people will still be disgusted at her black skin." Hear the outpouring of the heart, everyone in the room fell silent. After being satisfied venting her heart, Essie then asked permission to go to the toilet again.
The next day, there was a commotion in the NASA building. That day, Harrison smashed black signage that was posted all over the restrooms in NASA buildings. Before leaving, he said, "At NASA, our urine is all the same color. Now, there are no more white or black toilets."
Month after month later, the trial period ended, and on May 5th, 1961, it was time for the United States' first official rocket launch. Manual rockets successfully flew into space. Americans celebrate the success. The ranks of the creators of the NASA rocket then received an award from President John F. Kennedy. Not satisfied until then, in his speech, President Kennedy said that America will continue to explore space to win the competition against Russia.
Day by day, Catherine and Jim's relationship became closer. "We ask that you is that right?" Meanwhile, in court, Mary was seen trying to convince the judge. She applied for admission to a white man's university in order to become the first female engineer at NASA. Maybe now Mary has not accomplished anything, but she was sure in the next few years her name will be immortalized as one of the greatest women in the world. And that's when the judge's name will also be recorded as the first judge to give black people the opportunity to study at white people's universities. She's way of negotiating and pressed the judge. The judge gave her permission.
In the office, Catherine asked permission to work on the calculation formula for the project's next rocket launch. Though Paul was against her, but judging from the results of previous work, Harrison decided to trust Catherine.
After 47 days in space, the astronaut who flew the NASA rocket back to Earth. But unfortunately, time to land, the rocket was destroyed and sank in the sea. Government officials were again disappointed. As a result of the damage, the rocket that was collected from the public's tax money sank to the bottom of the sea. They demanded Harrison to perfect the manufacture of the next rocket.
At noon, Catherine gave Paul the calculated data, but he refused, saying that this morning the data had changed, so she had to recalculate using the new data. In her heart, she could only be patient. She then asked him to let her join the meeting so she could always be up to date with the latest data. Unfortunately, he still told her to count the existing data and not oppose. The next day, same as yesterday, Catherine's count was again rejected by Paul.
Soon after that, Harrison is coming. She was desperate to ask her boss for permission directly so she could attend the meeting. For constantly begging, he finally allowed her into the meeting room. Astronauts and government officials have gathered. Harrison reported that currently, the research team is still in the stage of calculating the coordinates for the launch and landing of the rocket. However, the government envoy was not satisfied with the report. They want clearer numbers. For being at a loss for words, he had to have Catherine do the impromptu counts in person in front of everyone.
"Miles per hour, point zero sixty degrees west, square miles." Everyone was so amazed. Difficult formula that so far cannot be solved, Essie managed to finish it in just a matter of minutes. Casually, Harrison said that the data will be finished in a few days.
On the other hand, after studying for a long time how NASA's automatic calculating machine works, that day Dorothy was secretly trying to operate the machine. When the engine is running, suddenly two officers came. The officer was confused why does the engine work though no one could ever blame it.
The next day, Michelle saw Dorothy, then reported that her boss wanted Dorothy to operate the NASA calculator and fire all the other black accountants. It turned out that yesterday's officer reported to her superiors. Essie answered if she will accept the position with conditions, all the other black accountants also had to work there with her. Michelle couldn't help but agree.
The night of Mary's first day of college, confused lecturer, "Why are there black women?" She explained that she was legally enrolled in this campus because it has a license. Everyone in the class can't do anything. Though alone among the white men, she is still eager to learn.
When Catherine came home from work, she is shocked to see the people in the house neatly dressed. They also prepared a special special dinner for her. Not long after that, Jim came. He knelt down and proposed to the idol of the heart. There was nothing she could do but cry with joy and said she was ready.
But there are happy moments, there are also sad moments. The next day, Harrison informed that in the near future, NASA's automatic calculator will be operational, so from now on, the space research division doesn't need Catherine's math skills anymore. She had to return to her old division and join the other black accountants. She could only resign herself to the decision. Before leaving, Harrison's secretary gave her a pearl necklace that all the research division employees had jointly made as a keepsake.
A few days later, after returning to the old division, Catherine's wedding party was held. On February 20th, 1962, America's second rocket launch began and was broadcast on all TV and radio stations. This time, the American mission is not just flying into space, but also roaming around orbit, just as Russia did. In the operator's room, Harrison asked Paul, "Why is today's machine count data different from yesterday's machine count data?" He then contacted the astronauts to tell them about this data discrepancy. Heard the news, the astronaut asked him to call Catherine right away. The astronaut believed in the black woman because he had seen first-hand how Catherine calculated. If after recalculation later, she said the coordinates were accurate, then he will continue the mission, but if wrong, then the mission is aborted. He then ordered one of his staff to hurry to find Catherine.
While running towards the division building, the accountant, Catherine's former co-worker, finally felt the exhaustion of running the 800 meters that Catherine used to feel every day just to go to the toilet. At the same time, astronauts are also on their way to the rocket. When it arrived, Harrison's staff immediately handed over the coordinates, then pleaded with Catherine to calculate everything as quickly as possible. Against the clock, finished counting, she immediately ran to the operator station. When she wanted to leave, Harrison suddenly came out and told her to come in. For the first time in her life, she could feel for herself how the situation in the NASA operator room was. Harrison then reported to the astronauts that the results of the calculation of the coordinates matched, and astronauts can continue their mission.
Here at Cape Canaveral, the countdown. These pictures are from Cape Canaveral. Rocket successfully launched into space. Everything looks good. In the black clerks building, when Dorothy wanted to go home, Michelle came to give her an official letter of appointment as head of the calculating machine division because now their position is equal and she is no longer Michelle's subordinate. As a sign of respect, Michelle then calls Dorothy by her first name, Mrs. Vaughn.
Hours passed. Mission exploring orbit has been successful. Warning light is on, indicates that the rocket must immediately descend. This condition is also reported on TV and radio. But on landing, suddenly the heat barrier layer of the Earth's atmosphere experienced problems.
"Friendship Seven, do you copy? Over." "Friendship Seven, do you copy? Over." Astronauts managed to land safely to Earth. The rocket remained intact with no major damage, and the landing was exactly at the coordinates that Catherine had calculated. Heard the happy news, all Americans cheered. While others are celebrating their success, Harrison walked over to Catherine, then said, "Good job." Before leaving, while joking, he asked, "Can we fly to the moon?" She confidently answered, "We're all ready."
I could be wrapped around your arms instead of being lonely. We could be gazing at the stars. But now it feels just like I wandered off into a room and closed the door behind me. I never gave the key to you, even though I wanted to. I should be trying something new, but now my body's aching. I'm tired of dwelling in the dark. It's just that my heart can't take it. I didn't know what it would cost me when I let you go. I feel alone and I'm just singing. It should have been you. Another time, another place. I just know it could have been you. What a crime and what a shame to let go. Sometimes I just don't know what to do. It should have been you. I could be driving to your place, but now the crown is shaking.