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FILE - In a Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, Willie Mays, right, applauds NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, after she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
FILE – In a Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, Willie Mays, right, applauds NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, after she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. (AP Photo | Evan Vucci, File)

NASA Renames WV Facility in Honor of Human ‘Computer’

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FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) – A NASA facility in West Virginia has been renamed in honor of a native of the state whose calculations helped put men on the moon 50 years ago.

Katherine Johnson was portrayed in the film “Hidden Figures” and is now 100 years old. She did not attend Tuesday’s ceremony in Fairmont but was represented by two of her daughters, Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore.

News outlets report elected officials, the NASA administrator and a former astronaut were at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility.

Johnson worked at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, as a human “computer.”

Last year, Johnson was honored by alma mater West Virginia State University with a bronze statue and scholarship dedication.