Late last month, Margaret Hamilton passed away at the age of 90. She will always be remembered as the software engineer who was instrumental in the development of the flight software for NASA’s Apollo program. As a NASA contractor from the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, she led a team of 100 engineers. Her work in this area helped to establish software engineering as a dedicated discipline
Olivier de Weck, the Apollo Program Professor and interim head of the MIT Department Aeronautics and Astronautics, later stated:
The Apollo program still stands as one of our greatest testaments to the power of collaboration, ingenuity, and engineering, and Margaret Hamilton was a fundamental contributor to that program’s success. And for her that was just the beginning! She went on to become an entrepreneur and remained on the cutting edge of systems software throughout an extraordinary career, while acting as an advocate, mentor, and inspiration to millions.
You can read more on Ms. Hamilton’s life and career at these sites:
Rest in peace.
