Margaret Hamilton, Software Pioneer Behind Apollo 11, Dies at 90

On September 30, MIT announced the passing of Margaret Hamilton, a pivotal software engineer who played a crucial role in guiding Apollo 11 to the Moon at the age of 90. Born in 1936 in Paoli, Indiana, she pursued mathematics at the University of Michigan and later graduated from Earlham College. In 1959, she began her career at MIT, working alongside Edward Norton Lorenz. By 1965, she had become the first programmer for the Apollo project, significantly improving software error resilience. Her code was instrumental in ensuring a safe lunar landing during Apollo 11, despite encountering a faulty script. Hamilton, who coined the term "software engineering," was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2016. Olivier de Weck referred to her as a pioneer ahead of her time.