Margaret Hamilton, who led software development for the Apollo programme, dies at 90
In short
Margaret Hamilton, the American programmer and computer scientist who led software development for the Apollo space programme, has died at the age of 90, RBC, TASS and Meduza reported on 8 October 2026. Meduza reported that she headed a team of 100 programmers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) whose software helped Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the Moon in 1969.
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Margaret Hamilton, an American programmer and computer scientist who led software development for the Apollo space programme, has died at the age of 90, RBC, TASS and Meduza reported on 8 October 2026. RBC described her as the developer of the software for the Apollo 11 landing, and TASS said she led software development for the flight to the Moon. Meduza reported that she died in the United States and described her as the first woman programmer in NASA's Apollo programme. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to Meduza, Hamilton headed a team of 100 programmers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), whose software for the Apollo missions helped astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land safely on the Moon in 1969. Meduza reported that she worked on six lunar landing missions in all, from 1969 to 1972, and that no error was recorded in her software during that period. Her programs were later used in creating Skylab, the first American space station, and in the early stages of space shuttle development, the outlet said. [ 3 ]
Meduza reported that Hamilton was born in 1936 in Indiana. After earning a bachelor's degree in mathematics, she married, moved to Cambridge and had a daughter. She took a job at MIT to support the family: she and her husband had both received scholarships to continue their studies and agreed to take turns studying and working, with Margaret going to work first. She initially worked on software for weather forecasting and learned from a newspaper that specialists were being sought for the Apollo project. According to Hamilton, she was not only the first woman but also the first programmer on the team. She was gradually promoted to head of software development for crewed spacecraft, Meduza reported. [ 3 ]
Meduza also recounted that Hamilton often brought her daughter Lauren to the laboratory. Hamilton said Lauren once pressed buttons, accidentally started a flight simulation and then erased the navigation data, causing the program to crash. Hamilton concluded that such an error could happen in real life, but MIT and NASA management refused to change the program, believing professional astronauts would never repeat a child's mistake. Meduza went on to describe an episode during the Apollo 8 flight in 1968 involving one of the astronauts; the rest of that account is not available in the text. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
RBC, Meduza and the official agency TASS all reported the death, with RBC linking Hamilton to the software for the Apollo 11 landing. Meduza also reported that her programs were later used for the Skylab space station and in early space shuttle development.
Key facts
- Margaret Hamilton has died at the age of 90. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- She led software development for the Apollo programme's flights to the Moon. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- RBC described her as the developer of the software for the Apollo 11 landing. [ 1 ]
- Meduza reported that she headed a team of 100 MIT programmers whose software helped Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the Moon in 1969. [ 3 ]
- According to Meduza, she worked on six lunar landing missions from 1969 to 1972, and no error was recorded in her software over that time. [ 3 ]
- Meduza reported that her programs were later used for Skylab, the first American space station, and in the early stages of space shuttle development. [ 3 ]
- Hamilton was born in 1936 in Indiana, Meduza reported. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The date and cause of death. None of the documents gives the date or cause of death; Meduza says only that she died in the United States.
- How the Apollo 8 episode linked to her daughter's simulation error ended. Meduza's account of an incident on the Apollo 8 flight in 1968 is cut off in the available text.