The hidden figures of the space race have been recognized with Congress’ highest honor at a medal ceremony.

A president's State of the Union address has a predictable formula.

FILE - In this May 11, 2019, file photo, former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during an appearance in Atlanta. Obama and soccer star Mia Hamm are among those chosen for the 2021 National Women's Hall of Fame class announced Monday, March 8, 2021. The Women's Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 2, 2021. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP, File)SENECA FALLS, N.Y. – Former first lady Michelle Obama and soccer star Mia Hamm have been chosen for the National Women's Hall of Fame as part of a Class of 2021 announced Monday that also includes former PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi and retired Brig. The National Women's Hall of Fame inducts a new class every other year in Seneca Falls, the site of the first women's rights convention.

The rocket is delivering cargo to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A space station supply ship named after the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” rocketed into orbit Saturday, the 59th anniversary of John Glenn's historic launch. Northrop Grumman's Cygnus capsule — dubbed the S.S. Katherine Johnson — should reach the International Space Station on Monday following its launch from Virginia's eastern shore. He noted that the space station flew over Virginia just 10 minutes ahead of Saturday's launch. The capsule also holds 120,000 tiny roundworms for a muscle experiment, as well as off-the-shelf computer equipment to increase data processing speed at the space station.

We lost a lot of big names in 2020, from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek to NBA legend Kobe Bryant. (Getty Images)John Prine performs on stage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2009. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Charley Pride performs onstage during the the 54th annual CMA Awards at Nashville’s Music City Center on Nov. 11, 2020. Jerry Stiller died from natural causes at his home in Manhattan on May 11, 2020, less than a month before his 93rd birthday. (Getty Images)Lynn Cohen attends the 5th annual Lilly awards at Playwrights Horizons on June 2, 2014 in New York City.

The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

WASHINGTON NASA is naming its Washington headquarters after Mary Jackson, the space agencys first African American female engineer whose story was portrayed in the popular film Hidden Figures.Jackson started her NASA career in 1951 as part of a segregated unit of female mathematicians at what is now Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jackson was later promoted to engineer and retired from NASA in 1985. Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement Wednesday. Part of the street in front of NASA headquarters is called Hidden Figures Way" and a computer research facility at Langley is named for Katherine Johnson, another of the Hidden Figures mathematicians, who died in February. A NASA facility is also named for her in West Virginia, her home state.