Toward a horizontal flight

Lena and I went to see Hidden Figures today. For those that haven't heard of it, it is the based on real events story of three bright African-American women working for NASA during Project Mercury. The main protagonist is Katherine Johnson. I am not completely familiar with all of the actual historical events, but I thought the film was fun, and inspiring. I am also a big fan of The Right Stuff, having seen it many times when I was a wee little thing. The two movies have a very different focus, of course, but some overlap as well. So it was interesting to watch a few common scenes and think “I remember this from the other film” and consider how different directors and different time periods portray some of the same events in different ways.

The film also left me feeling a tad wistful. There is a scene in the start of the movie where a police officer helps the trio out (despite their being African American in the south the late 50s early 60s) because they are working at NASA to beat the Russians into space. I don't know how plausible the scene as a whole is, but I do think there was a sense back then that people were behind NASA and space exploration in a way that they aren't today.