Margaret H. Hamilton, a pioneering computer scientist and former head of the Software Engineering Division of MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory who led the development of on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo moon missions, answered questions fro
Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer software engineer who led the development of on-board flight software for NASA’s Apollo moon missions, has died at age 90.
What we know:
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hamilton passed away on September 30, noting her decades-long influence on computing and spaceflight.
Dig deeper:
Hamilton was the former head of the Software Engineering Division of MIT’s Instrumentation Laboratory, where she led the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer’s onboard flight software. Her work became foundational to NASA’s lunar missions.
The backstory:
Born in Paoli, Indiana, in 1936, Hamilton studied mathematics at the University of Michigan and Earlham College before moving to Boston. She joined MIT in 1959, initially writing weather-prediction software before moving into Project Apollo. By 1968, she was the assistant director in charge of the Command and Service Module team.
She later founded two software companies, Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies, and authored more than 130 technical publications.
Big picture view:
In 2016, her contributions earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for civilians in the United States, with President Barack Obama praising her role in shaping modern software engineering and enabling "giant leaps for humankind."
Hamilton is survived by her family, daughter Lauren Hamilton, son-in-law Richard Selesnick, two grandsons, four great-grandchildren and her siblings John, David and Kathryn.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT News and NASA's Margaret Hamilton's Apollo Code.This story was reported from Orlando.