Theodore Melfi

Al Harrison delivers a stern wake-up call to his NASA team, demanding total dedication to surpass the Russians in the Space Race.

Katherine reaches a breaking point and confronts her boss about the systemic racism and grueling conditions she faces daily at NASA.

Dorothy expresses her frustration over being denied a supervisor title despite performing the duties, while encouraging her friends in their new roles.

Paul Stafford explains the complex physics of orbital flight and the dangerous mathematical uncertainty of bringing a capsule back to Earth.

Al Harrison informs Katherine that the new IBM computer has rendered her role as a human computer in his department redundant.

Al Harrison delivers a compelling argument to a government body about the necessity of space exploration and the high stakes of the Space Race.

Al Harrison challenges Katherine to look past standard calculations to find the math required for space travel. He emphasizes the high stakes of the Space Race and demands a visionary approach rather than just technical accuracy.

Mary Jackson petitions a judge for the right to attend night classes at an all-white high school to pursue her engineering degree. She appeals to the judge's own history of being a 'first' in his family and profession to convince him to break segregationist precedents.

Scene 42. Katherine Johnson reaches a breaking point and confronts her boss, Al Harrison, about the systemic racism and segregation she faces daily at NASA, specifically the lack of accessible bathrooms for Black women.