R.I.P. Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing
Margaret Hamilton, a pioneering computer scientist who led work on the flight software for NASA’s Apollo missions, has died aged 90. Her code helped avert a problem during the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and her work showed how reliable software could be essential to complex, high-stakes engineering.
Born in Indiana in 1936, Hamilton studied mathematics and taught herself to program while working with MIT mathematician Edward Lorenz. She joined the Apollo software effort in 1965 as its first programmer and the first woman hired, contributing to six lunar landing missions from 1969 to 1972. Hamilton later founded two software companies, coined the term “software engineering” and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
- Margaret Hamilton has died aged 90.
- Her software supported Apollo’s lunar landing missions.
- She helped establish software engineering as a field.
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Margaret Hamilton was a pioneering computer scientist who led the software development for NASA's Apollo space missions. She became the first woman hired for the role in 1965 and contributed to six successful lunar landing missions between 1969 and 1972.
During the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969, an unexpected computer alarm could have aborted the mission, but Hamilton's software contained the failsafe systems that prevented disaster. Her work demonstrated that carefully designed and thoroughly tested software was essential to the success of high-stakes engineering projects.
Beyond the Apollo programme, Hamilton founded two software companies and helped establish "software engineering" as a recognised discipline. Her influence on computing and space exploration was acknowledged with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.