Margaret Hamilton, 90, died on September 30. The news of his passing only arrived in the last few hours. He led the team of engineers who developed the software for the Apollo 11 Mission, the one that brought homo sapiens to the Moon for the first time.
July 20, 1969. For the first time in history an example of homo sapiens has been known sets foot on the Moon. The names of the protagonists of this mission are known. Neil Armstrongthe astronaut who first descended from the lunar module to land on the surface of our satellite. Buzz Aldrinwho got out just after him. Michael Collinsremained in orbit around the Moon. Only in the following years did another name begin to become known, that of Margaret Hamiltondied on September 30th at 90 years old. The news of his passing was communicated only in the last few hours. In 1969 he had 33 years oldand was already leading his team. Hamilton led the writing of the code that would handle theApollo Guidance Computer. This is the machine that managed the recording and processing of data for the entire mission, both for the command module and for the lunar module.
Very complex objective, considering the scarcity experience level for space missions and above all the level of the devices that were used. In recent years the technology in this sector has made notable leapsalso from a software point of view. Now the systems of SpaceX they can also manage the return to Earth of entire launch modules with relative serenity, landing them with such millimetric precision that they can be caught on the fly by towers equipped with mechanical arms. One of Margaret Hamilton’s most famous photos is the one showing her with driving code printoutsa stack of about ten folders that surpasses his height. Among his achievements there is also that of having spread the concept of software engineeringthat discipline where engineering processes are applied to software development.
During the Apollo 11 mission the code didn’t go all smoothly. The code developed by Hamilton made it possible to avoid an error that risked compromising the entire mission. In the 1989 NASA published celebrated Hamilton’s story with the award NASA Exceptional Space Act Award. It is precisely in the official document that motivates the award where it is certified the intervention of the software to resolve a potential error: “An example of the value of Hamilton’s work in software occurred during the Apollo 11 mission. Approximately three minutes before the Eagle’s moon landing, the software overrode a command that should have switched the onboard computer’s processing priority to a radar system whose power switch had been manually activated due to an incorrect operating script provided to the crew. The software’s intervention allowed the mission to continue safely.”
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