Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo astronauts on the moon
8 hours ago
- Margaret Hamilton has died at age 90; she was a pioneering software engineer whose code helped land Apollo astronauts on the moon.
- She led a team of 100 engineers at MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory, designing onboard software for Apollo command modules and lunar landers.
- Hamilton popularized the term 'software engineering' and helped establish it as a professional field.
- She introduced error-prevention techniques, including a failsafe known as 'the Lauren error,' discovered by her daughter during simulation testing.
- Her software overrode a critical error during the Apollo 11 mission just minutes before the lunar landing, ensuring mission success.
- Hamilton received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and NASA's Exceptional Space Act Award in 2003.