Pioneer Behind Apollo's Moon-Landing Software Dies at 90
Washington, United States: American scientist Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of the computer software for NASA's Apollo lunar program, has died at age 90, her employer announced.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology confirmed that the computing pioneer passed away on September 30.
NASA Chief Jared Isaacman paid tribute to Hamilton, calling her a pioneer whose work helped make Apollo and humanity's first journeys to the moon possible. MIT praised her for guiding software development when the field was in its infancy.
Born in Indiana in 1936, Hamilton studied mathematics before moving to Boston and joining an MIT laboratory in 1965. She was hired as the first female programmer for the Apollo project, developing code to send humans to the Moon.
By 1968, Hamilton was promoted to assistant director overseeing Apollo's Command and Service Module team. In this role, she directed over 400 people creating code for one of humanity's most complex technical systems.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama awarded Hamilton the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. She also published over 130 academic papers and founded Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies.
