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Margaret Elaine Hamilton (née Heafield; born August 17, 1936) is an American computer scientist. She was director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo program.
A math lover from an early age, Hamilton transformed that affinity, becoming an expert in software writing and engineering following her departure from college.
Aug 13, 2024 · Margaret Hamilton, American computer scientist who was one of the first computer software programmers. She created the term software engineer to describe her work. She helped write the computer code for the command and lunar modules used on the Apollo missions to the Moon in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
One of the many contributors to this effort was Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist who led the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which in 1961 contracted with NASA to develop the Apollo program’s guidance system.
Aug 9, 2024 · For over five decades, Hamilton's methods have had a major impact on the field of software engineering up to and including the present day. Hamilton received the NASA Exceptional Space Act Award (2003) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by Barack Obama (2016).
The Apollo 11 moon landing was about the astronauts, mission control, software and hardware all working together as a seamless integrated system. None of which would have been possible without the contributions of one engineer: Margaret Hamilton. Who was this pioneer?
Oct 13, 2015 · Software engineering, a concept Hamilton pioneered, has found its way from the moon landing to nearly every human endeavor. By the 1970s, Hamilton had moved on from NASA and the Apollo program.