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This picture from 1953 shows employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who were "'computers,' doing flight path calculations for rockets and compiling experimental data, as well as well as graphing performance data from JPL's wind tunnels." They also did FORTRAN programming and designed the very earliest prototypes of computer animation software. Notice how there is both a woman of color and a pregnant woman among the group. For more on the history of women as programmers at JPL see how "Women Made Early Inroads at JPL." Asian-American women also played an important role in this story. Unfortunately, despite the critical work they did for technically challenging missions, these women received few opportunities for job advancement into the all male echelons of upper management, allegedly because male employees didn't want female supervisors. Because this year is the thirtieth anniversary of the amazingly successful Voyager missions, which these women helped make possible, it's a good time to celebrate their legacy.