On July 16, 1969, a groundbreaking launch catapulted humankind into history.
The Apollo 11 successfully launched from Earth and landed on the moon four days later. More than 400,000 people from around the world helped the mission happen in one form or another but very few of them were women.
It was so rare, in fact, that when NASA released new 70-millimetre film footage and more than 11,000 hours of audio recordings surrounding the launch, one voice stuck out. Film producer Thomas Peterson began going through the data and noticed one womanB次元官网网址檚 voice, so he had to reach out.
Poppy Northcutt was one of the only women working in Houston on the technical side of things, using her skills as a mathematician to develop the Return To Earth Program. SheB次元官网网址檇 helped devise the calculations for a similar Abort Program for Apollo 8, and would continue to do so for Apollo 12 and 13.
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B次元官网网址淚t was a problem of trying to make it fast enough and accurate,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 just not an equation that you can write to solve the problem because you have so many constraints B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 about hitting the reentry corridor so they donB次元官网网址檛 burn up, about them coming into the right area as well as having the gravitational pull of the earth and the moon.B次元官网网址�
Peterson reached out to Northcutt to learn more about her experience, and to see if she was interested in helping to promote a documentary he was co-producing with the new footage. The resulting Apollo 11 documentary just premiered at VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 IMAX theatre, where Northcutt was in attendance.
B次元官网网址淚t was amazing to watch because when youB次元官网网址檙e working on these missions, everyone is very specialized so youB次元官网网址檙e very focused on your thing,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he view that those who work on it have is entirely different than the one a spectator would have. The spectatorB次元官网网址檚 is much better.B次元官网网址�
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Watching the launch on film was a good reminder of her experience on the ground in 1969.
B次元官网网址淚t was just that kind of moment for everyone on the planet,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淧eople took a lot of pride that human endeavour came forward. It was very fulfilling to know that I worked on something that had to do with that.B次元官网网址�
After helping with several other missions, Northcutt turned to womenB次元官网网址檚 advocacy and eventually became a lawyer. She is now semi-retired but continues to work in both fields in her hometown of Houston.
She hopes that many young women will watch the film and be inspired to work in the sciences and pursue their passions.
Apollo 11 is now playing at the IMAX, located in the Royal BC Museum, 675 Belleville St. For more information you can visit .
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