African-American Women Join the Space Race in Hidden Figures Trailer

Together, they served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit.

The film tells the story of the trio overcoming major societal obstacles – linked to racism, sexism and workplace politics – in becoming a difference-maker in NASA history during a time the Unites States and Russian Federation were racing to set the historic precedent.

The film “Hidden Figures” is hoping to change your perception of who made our dreams of space a reality, by telling the true story of the Black women who worked on the USA space program in the early 1960s. It’s based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly and stars the wonderful Taraji P. Henson as Johnson.

NASA’s Hidden Figures are finally given their time in the spotlight in today’s inspired first trailer for Theodore Melfi’s Oscar-tipped biopic. The film is the first time the contributions of any black scientists to that effort are being highlighted. Kirsten Dunst’s Vivian Michael can be seen telling Johnson not to “embarrass” her after Vaughan recommends Johnson to be in NASA.

NASA called Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), a mathematics prodigy with a gift for noticing patterns since her days as a child identifying polygons on her stained-glass windows. “There’s no protocol for women attending”, head engineer Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) tells Katherine when she attempts to go to a meeting.

“Hidden Figures” is set for general release January 13, 2017 but will have Oscar-qualifying runs in NY and Los Angeles starting Christmas Day, director Theodore Melfi announced.