Science
Margaret Hamilton, software pioneer behind Apollo 11 moon landing, dies at 90
October 8, 2026 at 02:31 AM
Coverage
3 reports · over 5 hours
BNBBC News
Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo 11 on the moon, dies at 90
(opens the publisher’s site)
TGThe Guardian
Margaret Hamilton, trailblazer whose software powered Apollo 11 moon landing, dies at 90
(opens the publisher’s site)
CNCNN
Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo astronauts on the moon, has died
(opens the publisher’s site)Margaret Hamilton, the MIT computer scientist whose software powered the Apollo 11 moon landing, has died at age 90, MIT announced on Wednesday.
- MIT announced Hamilton died on 30 September at age 90; the cause of death was not disclosed.
- Hamilton led a team of 100 engineers designing the onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo missions at MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory.
- During Apollo 11's descent in 1969, her software detected and compensated for a hardware problem, allowing the landing to proceed.
- Barack Obama presented Hamilton the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 for her contribution to science and space travel.