Johnson’s, amazing mind, also verified early electronic computer calculations, which she did by using her mathematical genius, for John Glenn’s 1962 launch to orbit as well as the 1969 Apollo trajectory to the moon. As the scientists went to computers, they also asked in parallel for Johnson to manually check and see if the computer trajectory they had calculated was correct. Realizing that subsequent Mercury flights and beyond would become increasingly more complex, Johnson acknowledged that they could do much more, so much faster on the computer. By the time John Glenn was to go up to orbit the Earth, NASA had gone to computers. Subsequent flights became more complicated, with more variables involving the position and rotation of the Earth and the moon for orbiting. Launching at 45 o will give the object maximum range. It can be seen that the 60 o and 30 o trajectories have the identical range, as will any two pairs of launches at complementary angles. The diagram above shows trajectories with the same launch speed but with differing launch angles. Johnson knew that the initial vector components of velocity would be used in the general motion equations. (Image courtesy of Georgia State University) One can separate the horizontal and vertical motions and describe both by using the general motion equations for constant acceleration. The motion of any object which is under gravity’s influence, can be determined by using the acceleration of gravity, the objects launch speed, and launch angle if air friction is negligible.
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