It’s Women’s Equality Day! ⁣ ⁣ Mary Jackson began her career at the NACA (NASA’s predecessor) Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory’s segregated West Area Computing section in 1951. After two years in West Computing, Jackson was offered a computing position to work in the 4-foot by 4-foot Supersonic Pressure Tunnel. She was also encouraged to enter a training program that would put her on track to become an engineer — however, she needed special permission from the City of Hampton to take classes in math and physics at then-segregated Hampton High School.⁣ ⁣ She completed the courses, earned the promotion, and in 1958 became NASA’s first Black female engineer. That same year, she co-authored her first report, “Effects of Nose Angle and Mach Number on Transition on Cones at Supersonic Speeds.” By 1975, she had authored or co-authored 12 NACA and NASA technical publications — most focused on the behavior of the boundary layer of air around an airplane.⁣ ⁣ Jackson eventually became fru...