early computer programmers had to do a lot of the computing (number crunching and other tasks) themselves.
http://www.pbs.org/video/2365794661/
There was a movie that came out called “Hidden Figures”. That taught the time era where there was segregation of people. A woman even had to go across to another building to use a rest room in high heals, until the supervisor finally made sure she was able to use the rest room closer to her. About getting into space the human elemant that you do not normally see.
People worked on many different projects showing they came from diverse backgrounds .
https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures NASA web page