Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo 11 on the Moon, dies at 90
Also reported by Guardian World
Summary
Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist who created the software that helped NASA’s Apollo 11 astronauts land on the moon, has died at age 90. She led the team that developed important flight software and helped solve a critical computer error during the 1969 moon landing.Key Facts
- Margaret Hamilton was a software engineer who worked at MIT from 1959 to the mid-1970s.
- She led the team that wrote and tested the Apollo 11 spacecraft’s flight software.
- Her work helped fix a computer overload alarm during the 1969 moon landing, allowing the mission to succeed.
- The term "software engineering" was popularized by her work and leadership.
- Hamilton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016.
- She was born in Indiana in 1936 and studied mathematics at the University of Michigan and Earlham College.
- She passed away on September 30, 2023, and is survived by her family.
- MIT and Earlham College praised her pioneering contributions to science and space exploration.
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