In brief
Margaret Hamilton, whose software guided Apollo 11 to the lunar surface, died on 30 September at age 90. The MIT computer scientist, who coined the term "software engineering", led a team that developed the on-board systems that kept Armstrong and Aldrin safe. After receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, Hamilton continued to influence the industry through her own businesses. She is survived by a daughter, a son‑in‑law, two grandsons and four great‑grandchildren, and her pioneering spirit remains an inspiration for future generations.
Margaret Hamilton, whose software directed the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans on the Moon, died on 30 September at the age of 90.
Hamilton was the principal architect of the flight software that guided the Lunar Module to the lunar surface, and her work was instrumental in coining the term “software engineering.”
While at MIT’s Software Engineering Division from 1959 until the mid‑1970s, she led a team that programmed and tested all of the on‑board systems that kept astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safe.
In the moments before the Armstrong‑Aldrin descent, the onboard computer flagged an overload, a crisis that Hamilton’s design had anticipated – the program dropped non‑essential tasks to keep the landing priority.
For her groundbreaking contributions, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, presented by President Barack Obama.
Hamilton studied mathematics at the University of Michigan and earned a BA at Earlham College before moving to Boston with her husband. At MIT she paved the way as the first female software engineer and later founded companies such as Hamilton Technologies.
She is survived by her daughter, a son‑in‑law, two grandsons and four great‑grandchildren.
