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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 21-23, Epilogue.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was Matilda West, the black employee who was fired for disloyalty, related to?
(a) Katherine Goble Johnson.
(b) Mary Jackson.
(c) Dorothy Vaughan.
(d) Miriam Mann.

2. Which group at Langley had already developed expertise in rockets when the space race began?
(a) The Flight Research Division.
(b) The Formal Methods Research Group.
(c) PARD.
(d) The Materials Research Division.

3. How many women, both black and white, were working as computers when Dorothy Vaughan started at Langley?
(a) 20.
(b) 100.
(c) 500+.
(d) 200+.

4. Why did test pilots trust the human computers more than the mechanical computers?
(a) They believed the computer programmers would use the wrong formulas to produce accurate data.
(b) They believed the human computers would do a better job because they cared about the lives of the pilots.
(c) They knew that engineers and mathematicians sometimes found errors in the data produced by the machines.
(d) They did not know how to use the mechanical computers, so they did not understand them.

5. Which of the following best describes the NASA employees shown in the film footage shot behind the scenes of the Mercury launch?
(a) A mixed group of white and black men.
(b) White men and white women.
(c) A mixed group of white men, black men, white women, and black women.
(d) White guys in white shirts with black ties.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Leonard Vaughan and the other black children ensure they would get the pond to themselves?

2. What was the name of the group of black pilots whose exploits were closely followed by the black community during World War II?

3. What were the employees at Langley warned against doing outside of the workplace during World War II?

4. What branch of the military did Katherine Goble Johnson's second husband serve in?

5. What oath did Dorothy Vaughan have to take upon beginning her job at Langley?

(see the answer key)

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