Margaret Hamilton, pioneering Apollo software engineer, dies at 90

Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist who led development of onboard flight software for NASA’s Apollo missions, died on Sept. 30 at age 90, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced.

Hamilton joined MIT in 1959, initially writing weather-prediction software with meteorologist Edward Lorenz. She later worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory on software for the SAGE air-defense system before joining the institute’s Apollo effort. As head of the Software Engineering Division, she led the team responsible for writing and testing the spacecraft’s in-flight software.

That software played a crucial role during Apollo 11’s 1969 lunar descent, when the onboard computer became overloaded and issued alarms. Priority-driven error-recovery mechanisms developed by Hamilton’s team allowed the computer to suspend less important tasks and continue handling functions needed for the landing.

Hamilton, who authored more than 130 publications, helped establish software engineering as a distinct discipline. After leaving MIT in the mid-1970s, she founded software companies, including Hamilton Technologies.

President Barack Obama awarded Hamilton the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, recognizing her contributions to computing and space exploration. She is survived by her daughter, son-in-law, two grandsons and four great-grandchildren, according to MIT.