Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer program when she was only 17 years old. She created the code for the first mechanical computer, invented by Charles Babbage in the early 1800s. >> More

Grace Hopper and her team created some of the first electronic computers, like Mark 1, in the 1940s. The computers were huge—the size of whole rooms. Grace predicted that someday people would be able to hold a powerful computer in their hands. >> More

Katherine Johnson worked as a mathematician at NASA starting in 1953. The kinds of calculation Ms. Johnson did are part of orbital mechanics. She’s best known for doing the math to make sure that astronauts could return safely to earth. >> More

The software written by NASA programmers was initially woven into core rope memory by female workers in factories. Some programmers nicknamed the finished product LOL memory, for Little Old Lady memory. All the sewing was done by hand, by women. >> More

In the 1960s, Margaret Hamilton worked with a team at MIT and NASA to create the computer programs that astronauts used in the Apollo 11 space flight. >> More

In the 1970s, Raye Montague was the first person to figure out how to design a ship using a computer—then she designed one in less than 24 hours! >> More