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Margaret Hamilton, trailblazer whose software powered Apollo 11 moon landing, dies aged 90

The Guardian Australia - Science · 8 October 2026 at 11:40 am

Margaret Hamilton, trailblazer whose software powered Apollo 11 moon landing, dies aged 90

MIT computer scientist led development of software for moon mission and earned Presidential Medal of Freedom Margaret Hamilton, the computer pioneer whose software powered the first moon landing, has died, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced on Wednesday.

She was 90.

In an era before titles such as software engineer and computer scientist became mainstream, Hamilton, who died on 30 September, learned to program under the tutelage of a renowned MIT meteorologist.

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Margaret Hamilton, trailblazer whose software powered Apollo 11 moon landing, dies aged 90

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