Hamilton, who popularized the term software engineering, took some chiding for it. Hamilton is a computer scientist who was instrumental to nasas efforts to land humans on the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. If we look at a software engineers salary as a journey of many steps, at every step well see that where you are, what you do, what you value most, and when you join the company determines your salary according to recent research by startup compass. She led the team that created the guidance computers that got the astronauts to the moon and back, a feat as difficult as creating the rockets themselves. Margaret hamilton computer scientist nasa solar system. Her work at lincoln lab ensured her place as lead developer of nasas apollo flight software. Paul curto, senior technologist who nominated hamilton for a nasa space act award, called hamiltons work the foundation for ultra reliable. When margaret hamilton was a child, her father used to take her on long. The pioneering software engineer who coded man to the moon. Margaret hamilton her code got humans on the moon our. Margaret heafield hamilton is an american computer scientist, systems engineer. Today, margaret hamilton is being honored again this time at the white house.
Paul curto, senior technologist who nominated hamilton for a nasa space act award, called hamiltons work the foundation for ultrareliable. Margaret hamilton joined mit to work on software projects including meteorological software for edward lorenz, father of chaos theory, and sage system software that searched for enemy airplanes before landing on the mitnasa contract as the lead programmer on the apollo guidance computer. She was director of the software engineering division of the mit instrumentation laboratory, which developed onboard flight software for nasas apollo program. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo project, stands next to a huge stack of code written by her and her team, in 1969. I like to think that my wifes professional career has given my kids. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo.
Margaret paraschos quality assurance career manager. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer for nasas apollo 11 mission there was no choice but to be pioneers. Space engineer and scientist margaret hamilton stem trailblazer bios di piazza, domenica on. Margaret hamilton was the lead software engineer of the apollo project. Margaret hamilton, nee margaret heafield, born august 17, 1936, paoli, indiana, u. This is a great photo i just ran across on the internets. Problems began when the computer was overloaded with commands from the rendezvous radar and the landing system, requiring more processing power than the computer could handle. Just before landing on the moon was the most exciting part, for some of us at least, margaret hamilton, lead developer for the apollo onboard flight software, said in a recent interview. By relentlessly rooting out errors, the original software engineer helped send astronauts to the moon. Margaret hamilton is a computer scientist and systems engineer. Margaret hamilton, lead apollo flight software engineer, in the apollo command module.
Space engineer and scientist margaret hamilton stem. Margaret hamilton wasnt supposed to invent the modern concept of. Space engineer and scientist margaret hamilton stem trailblazer bios. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer, project apollo she was all of 31 when the apollo 11 lunar module landed on the moon, running her code. Margaret hamilton in 1969 with the source code her team developed for the apollo missions. Hamilton was honored by nasa in 2003, when she was presented a special award recognizing the value of her innovations in the apollo software development. The software for the guidance computer was written by a team at the mit instrumentation laboratory now the draper laboratory, headed up by margaret.
Started at mit for the meteorology department to write weatherpredicting software. Margaret hamilton, who wrote apollo spacecraft guidance software, awarded presidential medal of freedom. Back then, software engineering was a relatively obscure profession and regarded by many as an art and as magic, not a. Her code got humans on the moonand invented software. Neil wouldnt have been able to take that step without margaret hamilton, the lead software engineer for project apollo. By then, hamilton was the head of software engineering for the apollo program. Margaret heafield hamilton born august 17, 1936 is an american computer scientist, systems. Her code got humans on the moonand invented software itself. She was a pioneer when it came to development of software engineering, says teasel muirharmony, a curator at the national air and space museum, and a pioneer as a woman in the workplace contributing to this. Margaret hamilton was the lead software engineer for nasas project apollo and created the code that let apollo 11 land on the moon. Margaret hamilton led the nasa software team that landed. Hamilton, a computer programmer, would wind up leading the software engineering division of the mit instrumentation laboratory now draper. Margaret hamilton, apollo software engineer, awarded.
Margaret hamiltons code took humans to the moon young. Hamilton started writing computer code at mit as a young working mother in 1960, the term software engineer did not exist, and programmers occupied the fringes of a nascent. She later founded two software companieshigher order software in 1976 and hamilton technologies in 1986, both. Nearly fifty years ago, history was made when neil armstrong took his famous first small step on the surface of the moon.
They would talk the whole time about philosophyrelated things, the. The work done by hamilton and others eventually helped lead to. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer for nasas. People celebrated the world over, though few were more relieved than margaret hamilton. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo project, stands next to a. As this medium article points out, the engineers werent. But, as they say, behind every great man is a woman, and for armstrong that woman was margaret hamilton, the programmer who invented the software that made the moon landing possible, not to mention software itself. 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 programs guidance system. And hamilton stayed in the lab to lead an epic feat of engineering that. It was 1960, not a time when women were encouraged to seek out highpowered technical work. As margaret herself said in one of her letters, it was the software that recognized the problem and took action, thus saving the mission and landing apollo 11 on the moons surface. When it comes to margaret hamiltons career, she literally shoots for the moon. And margaret hamilton the software engineer wasnt hospitalized because of code catching fire and igniting her.
Margaret paraschos software development test engineer sr, lead technologist at booz allen hamilton charleston, south carolina area 316 connections. Apollo 11 was able to land at all only because she designed the software robustly enough to handle buffer overflows and cyclestealing. Margaret hamilton is a pioneer for women in stem, and her teams software saved apollo 11s moon landing. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo project. Hamilton wrote that at that time, computer science and software engineering were. She was director of the software engineering division of the mit instrumentation laboratory, which developed onboard flight software for the apollo space program. Today that title would probably be something along the line of lead software engineer margaret hamilton was born in rural indiana in 1936. Hamilton was the lead software engineer of the apollo program, though she is often overshadowed by more widely known participants, like astronauts buzz aldrin and neil armstrong. Hamilton discusses joining nasa as their first software engineer. Margaret hamilton lead software engineer apollo 11 timeline 1936. Photo celebrates unsung nasa software engineer margaret. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer, project apollo 485 points by adrianhoward on dec 11. Margaret hamilton takes software engineering to the moon.
The award included the largest financial award that nasa had ever presented to any individual up to that point. The code of margaret hamilton that got humans to the moon. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo project, stands next to her code that took us to the moon. Margaret hamilton was the lead software engineer on the apollo program. Margaret hamilton, the woman behind the moon landing. I remember thinking, oh my god, it worked, the pioneering software engineer tells time. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer, project apollo. Margaret hamilton, nasas first software engineer youtube. Science history imagesalamy stock photo did your life as a. Women like margaret hamilton, who, beginning in 1961, helped nasa develop the apollo programs guidance system that took u.
Thats what margaret hamilton has to say about her experience engineering software for nasa at mit massachusetts institute of technology in the 1960s. It said it was margaret hamilton, apollo program, but. Margaret heafield hamilton born august 17, 1936 is an american computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner. As ceo of hamilton technologies, which she founded in 1986, she is still developing usl universal systems language which stems from her experience of the apollo program. Margaret hamilton, nasas lead software engineer for the apollo program, stands next to the code she wrote by hand that took humanity to the moon in 1969. Margaret hamilton wasnt supposed to invent the modern concept of software and land men on the moon. A mathematician and pioneer of computer science, hamilton was a selftaught computer programmer working for the mit instrumentation laboratory when, under a contract from nasa, she became the lead software engineer on project apollo. Is this a photo of margaret hamilton standing next to.
Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo project, stands next to the code she wrote by hand and that was used to take humanity to the moon. It was 1960, not a time when women were encouraged to. Writing for smithsonian, alice george highlights margaret hamiltons work leading the team at the mit instrumentation lab that developed the software for the apollo 11 mission. Margaret elaine heafield hamilton is a computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner. Margaret hamilton, lead apollo flight software engineer, in the apollo command module at nasa margaret hamilton wasnt supposed to invent the modern concept of software and land men on the moon. Mojave desert installation tribute to apollo engineer by. Cambridge programmer awarded highest us honor the boston. When margaret hamilton was a child, her father used to take her on long drives through michigans upper peninsula. It said it was margaret hamilton, apollo program, but it didnt say who. Margaret hamilton, who coined the term software engineer and was lead developer for the team that wrote the programs that landed men on the moon, turned 80 years old last week. So when she worked herself into a position at nasa as the lead developer for apollo flight software there happened to be a pecking order to.
She worked on every manned apollo mission as well as many unmanned missions. Indeed, margaret hamilton, renowned mathematician and computer science. The code that hamilton and her team wrote could prioritize and focus on more important tasks. She was the director of the mit software engineering division that developed onboard software for the apollo space program, via wired. Critics said it inflated her works importance, but today, when. Computer science and software engineering were not yet disciplines. Margaret hamilton, nasas lead software engineer for the. Margaret went on to work on all of the manned, and several unmanned apollo missions, before leaving in the 70s. Margaret hamilton, leader of the team that developed the flight software for the agencys apollo missions. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer, project apollo medium this is a great photo i just ran across on the internets. For her work during this period, hamilton has been credited with popularizing the concept.
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