Stories
Margaret Hamilton, NASA Apollo Software Pioneer, Passes Away at 90
C
CNBC TV18•08-10-2026, 09:21
Margaret Hamilton, NASA Apollo Software Pioneer, Passes Away at 90
- •Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist who led the development of the software for NASA's Apollo lunar program, has died at the age of 90.
- •Serving as the first programmer and assistant director for the Apollo project at MIT, Hamilton managed a team of over 400 people building critical flight software.
- •Her innovative work ensured the success of the historic missions that landed the first humans on the Moon, beating the Soviet Union in the space race.
- •In 2016, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Barack Obama in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to software engineering.
- •Following her time at MIT, she published numerous papers and founded two software companies, Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies.
Key Questions Answered
Margaret Hamilton led the development of the computer system used by NASA's Apollo lunar program. She was hired as the project's first programmer at MIT and eventually became the assistant director in charge of the Command and Service Module team by 1968, managing over 400 people working on the software.
Margaret Hamilton passed away at the age of 90 on September 30.
Margaret Hamilton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former president Barack Obama in 2016 for her groundbreaking achievements in software engineering.
