You might be surprised to hear that one of the key events in the space’s history has particular significance for Jack Black, the popular actor, comedian, musician, and generally a funny guy. His late mother, Judith Love Cohen, was actually a real-life American aerospace engineer.
Remember his animated Netflix 2022 film Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood about the Apollo 11 moon landing? Well, this film certainly strikes a surprising chord with Black, who has a personal connection to the historical event. Cohen was an aerospace engineer who contributed to the development of the Apollo Lunar Module’s Abort-Guidance System during her time working on the Apollo space program.
Even on the day the King Kong star was born, she reported for duty. After working on the issue for a while, she called her boss to let him know it was fixed.
Jack Black’s Mother Was A Math And Science Enthusiast
Even as a child, Jack Black’s mother, Judith Love Cohen, had her sights set on the stars and a strong interest in mathematics. She was often the only female student in her math classes, which inspired her to pursue a career as a math teacher. By the age of 19, she was a college student majoring in engineering and performing ballet with the New York Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, she once said:
“Girls didn’t do these things. The only time I saw a woman doing anything interesting — I had a math teacher who was a woman. So I decided, OK, I’ll be a math teacher.”
Cohen spent her childhood listening carefully to her father teach geometry. As a young woman, she disregarded the advice of her counselor and enrolled in Brooklyn College’s math program. There, she developed an interest in engineering. Still, there was something else that drew her attention: she met Bernard Siegel, and the two were married by the mid-1950s.
But in addition to giving birth to three children, Cohen also continued to pursue her studies. After graduating from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, she followed her childhood dream and started working for Space Technology Laboratories, which was later renamed TRW. She noted:
“I wound up actually being able to do the thing I wanted when I was 10 years old.”
Yes, Judith Love Cohen Did Contribute To Save Apollo 13
The Abort-Guidance System, which saved the astronauts on Apollo 13, was developed in part by American aerospace engineer Judith Love Cohen. Even though she was in labor with her fourth child, she was determined to solve the problem she was working on.
She did, in fact, bring a printout of the problem she was working on to the hospital with her. She informed her boss later that day that she had found the solution. And then, not to mention, Jack Black was born. As the actor informed ET, Cohen gave her job her all:
“She worked on an Apollo mission at that time, but the stuff that she did wasn’t used until Apollo 13, a few years later, when the astronauts were in an emergency situation and her Abort-Guidance System that she worked on as a programmer helped save some astronauts’ lives.”
Indeed, Cohen was such a dedicated worker that her son described her as follows:
“There is the legend of how when she went to the hospital to give birth to me [on Aug. 28, 1969, just one month after the Apollo 11 moon landing], that she had some paperwork, she was still working on a problem. And after she delivered the baby, she called into work and they said, ‘Hey, congratulations, you just had a baby!’…”
Neil Siegel, her other son, claimed (per USC Viterbi):
“My mother usually considered her work on the Apollo program to be the highlight of her career..”
In the present day, Black’s extraordinary talent continues to awe millions of people all over the world. Nobody knew at the time that both mother and son would leave their own distinct imprints on the world.
