Margaret Hamilton, scientist who worked on NASA's Apollo program, dead at 90
Margaret Hamilton, a pioneering software engineer who led the team that developed the Apollo guidance software for NASA, has died at age 90. She was instrumental in the success of the Apollo moon landings and was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Why it matters
Hamilton's work laid the foundation for modern software engineering and played a critical role in one of humanity's greatest technological achievements.
In a statement, the Massachussetts Institute of Technology called Hamilton, who taught at the prestigious university from 1959 to the mid-1970s, a "computing pioneer" and said she died on September 30.
"To say Margaret Hamilton was a pioneer -- to say she was ahead of her time -- would be a dramatic understatement," said Olivier de Weck, the Apollo Program Professor and interim head of the MIT Department Aeronautics and Astronautics.
"She was a software engineer at a time when that field was in its infancy, and she not only developed advanced code herself but also led a team in using that nascent technology to develop one of the most complex systems humanity had ever achieved," Weck added.
The famed Apollo program allowed the United States to beat the Soviet Union in the race to become the first humans to land on the Moon.
Also covering this story
4 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo 11 on the Moon, dies at 90
Margaret Hamilton, scientist who worked on NASA's Apollo program, dead at 90
Margaret Hamilton, Apollo software pioneer, dies at 90
Margaret Hamilton, who led software development for Apollo program, dies at 90
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