Margaret Hamilton, trailblazer whose software powered Apollo 11 moon landing, dies at 90

Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist who played a crucial role in the Apollo 11 moon landing, has passed away at the age of 90, according to MIT. The software she developed powered the first moon landing, earning her the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2016. Before the era of widely recognized job titles like software engineer or computer scientist, Hamilton taught herself to program under the guidance of a prominent MIT meteorologist.

She further honed her skills at an MIT laboratory, crafting software capable of detecting enemy aircraft. When MIT received a NASA contract to create the Apollo onboard flight software, Hamilton eagerly accepted the challenge. "I was attracted both by the sheer idea and the fact that it had never been done before. I was the first programmer to join and the first woman they hired," she recalled in 2019.

During the Apollo 11 mission, minutes before the spacecraft was to land on the moon, an onboard computer alarm signalled an emergency. Despite the crisis, the spacecraft managed to continue its journey. Hamilton's software had anticipated this possibility and compensated for the issue by restarting and prioritizing the highest tasks, ensuring the mission's success.

Barack Obama paid tribute to her during the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, highlighting her pivotal role in the mission. Reflecting on the event, Hamilton said, "Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers; no time to be beginners."