NASA Apollo program pioneer Margaret Hamilton dies

Software engineer Margaret Hamilton, who led the team that programmed the first computers used by NASA's Apollo mission to land humans on the moon, has died at the age of 90.

Her death on September 30 was announced Wednesday by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she worked from 1959 to the mid-70s.

The university described her as profoundly influential in the field of software development, saying she had "forged new paths in computer science and engineering."

NASA chief Jared Isaacmen paid tribute on X, calling Hamilton "a pioneer whose work helped make Apollo and humanity's first journeys to the moon possible."

How did Hamilton come to work on the lunar program?

Hamilton studied mathematics before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1959.

She began working at MIT soon afterwards, and in 1965 applied to join a lab at the university that was seeking people to develop software to "send a man to the moon."

The lab had won a contract from NASA to build the onboard flight software for the Apollo program.

Hamilton was hired as the first programmer for the project, MIT said, adding that she was also the project's first female programmer.

She initially worked on the first software for the uncrewed Apollo missions, before being promoted to lead the team developing on-board flight software for the crewed missions.

"By 1968, she was assistant director in charge of (Apollo's) Command and Service Module team, and more than 400 people were working on Apollo's software," MIT said.

"To say Margaret Hamilton was a pioneer — to say she was ahead of her time — would be a dramatic understatement," said Olivier de Weck, the Apollo Program Professor and interim head of the MIT Department Aeronautics and Astronautics.

"She was a software engineer at a time when that field was in its infancy, and she not only developed advanced code herself but also led a team in using that nascent technology to develop one of the most complex systems humanity had ever achieved," de Weck added.

'There was no second chance'

Speaking of her time working on the Apollo program, Hamilton told MIT News in 2009: "There was no second chance. We knew that. We took our work seriously, many of us beginning this journey while still in our 20s."

"Coming up with solutions and new ideas was an adventure. Dedication and commitment were a given," she added. "Because software was a mystery, a black box, upper management gave us total freedom and trust."

"Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers."

Hamilton published more than 130 papers and went on to start her own software companies Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies.

In 2016, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former US President Barack Obama, whose citation said: "Hamilton defined new forms of software engineering and helped launch an industry that would forever change human history. Her software architecture led to giant leaps for humankind, writing the code that helped America set foot on the moon.”