Skip to content
Apprise News

Card stack

Margaret Hamilton, who led a software team for NASA's Apollo program, dies at 90

Compiled Oct 8

Margaret Hamilton, who led a software team for NASA's Apollo program, dies at 90
Margaret Hamilton, who led a software team for NASA's Apollo program, dies at 90 · Photo: The Associated Press
1

What happened

Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist who led the team that created onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo program, has died at 90

2

The detail

She died Sept. 30 at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to her daughter Lauren Hamilton

3

The detail

She graduated with a degree in mathematics from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in 1958

4

The detail

She went to work for MIT in 1959, later joining MIT's Instrumentation Lab in the mid-1960s, which had a NASA contract for Apollo

5

How it unfolded

1958: Hamilton graduates with a mathematics degree from Earlham College · 1959: She goes to work for MIT, initially on weather prediction software · mid-1960s: She starts at MIT's Instrumentation Lab, which had a NASA contract for Apollo · 1968: She becomes assistant director in charge of the command and service module team · into the 1970s: She continues working at the Instrumentation Lab, then founds two software companies · 2016: President Obama awards her the Presidential Medal of Freedom · Sept. 30: Hamilton dies at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts

6

By the numbers

90 age at death · 1958 graduation year · 1959 year started at MIT · 1968 year became assistant director · 2016 year awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Read the full story →