Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90
Margaret Hamilton, who led Apollo flight software development at MIT, died Sept. 30 at 90.Summary
Margaret Hamilton, a pioneering computer scientist who led the MIT Instrumentation Lab team that developed the onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo program, died Sept. 30 at age 90. Born in 1936 in Paoli, Indiana, she began at MIT in 1959 and joined the Apollo project in 1965, eventually overseeing more than 400 people working on the software. Her priority-driven, "defensive" programming was crucial during the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, when her software's ability to prioritize critical tasks helped avert a computer overload alarm and enabled the first moon landing. She was a strong advocate for establishing software engineering as a discipline, later founded two software companies, and received numerous honors including the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is survived by her daughter, son-in-law, two grandsons, four great-grandchildren, and siblings.
(Source：MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology)