CambridgeMargaret Hamilton, who led Apollo’s flight software, died aged 90.
She coined the term software engineering and was the first programmer hired for Apollo guidance.
Her priority-based failsafe cancelled nonessential tasks and kept landing tasks running when Apollo 11’s computer overloaded.
Opinions differ on the alarms’ cause, one explanation being the rendezvous radar switch left on.
She is survived by her daughter Lauren, two grandsons and four great-grandchildren.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 200+ reports worldwide
- Ars Technica leans favorable
- credits Hamilton with coining 'software engineering' and quotes MIT's de Weck on her Apollo code role
Sources: Ars Technica