Join facebook to connect with margaret hamilton and others you may know. She was director of the software engineering division of the mit instrumentation laboratory, which developed onboard flight software for the apollo space program. Her efforts on the sage project were also what made margaret hamilton the obvious candidate for the position at nasa as the lead developer for apollo flight software. Margaret hamilton was the lead software engineer for project apollo. Her code got humans on the moonand invented software itself. Jul 20, 2017 a new kids book profiles margaret hamilton, a programmer for nasa whose work made the apollo 11 moon landing possible. A new kids book profiles margaret hamilton, a programmer for nasa whose work made the apollo 11 moon landing possible. There originaly is only 12 patches for 17 missions because patches were only made for manned flights missions. Aug 19, 2016 named as apollo 8 and apollo 10, launched in 1968 and 1969 respectively, the two spacecrafts orbited around the moon and returned safely to the earth.
I was a young kid, and i was hired by dan lickly over here pointing to dan. Wired her code got humans on the moonand invented software itself. Jan 12, 2017 the apollo 11 moon landing was one of the most memorable moments of 20thcentury history, and margaret hamilton s code made it possible. Half a century ago, mit played a critical role in the development of the flight software for nasas apollo program, which landed humans on the moon for the first time in. Apr 10, 2018 margaret was still considered a beginner programmer when she started work on the apollo program. Thad roberts was a former intern at nasa, who served a 6year sentence in a federal prison after having sex with his girlfriend on a bed full of stolen moon rocks gathered from the apollo 11 moon landing mission. She has on a black dress with a wavy striped design. View the profiles of professionals named margaret hamilton on linkedin. In a maledominated field, hamilton became known as the rope. With the astronauts onboard, apollo 11 left the earth and was heading towards the moon. Mar 11, 2016 a few years after graduating from earlham college with a ba in mathematics, margaret hamilton soon found herself in charge of software development and production for the apollo missions to the moon at the mit instrumentation laboratory.
Margaret was still considered a beginner programmer when she started work on the apollo program. Techcrunch reporter devin coldewey writes that margaret hamilton, a computing pioneer who led the development of the apollo programs onboard flight software during her time at mit, has been named a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom. Margaret hamilton with her code, lead software engineer, project apollo 1969. It was both a relief and a wonderful feeling as soon as the landing on the moon and splashdown took place. Margaret heafield hamilton margaret hamilton born august 17, 1936 1 is a computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner.
Each one is detailed vector reproduction of original patch designed for this pioneer space program in years 19671972. A few years after graduating from earlham college with a ba in mathematics, margaret hamilton soon found herself in charge of software development and production for the apollo missions to the moon at the mit instrumentation laboratory. She later founded two software companieshigher order software in 1976 and hamilton technologies in 1986, both. 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. Her work was critical to the success of the six voyages to the moon between 1969 and 1972. Coldewey writes that hamilton is an inspiring figure for anyone looking to enter the fields. Margaret hamilton s apollo code a brief history of the famous 1969 photo of the software that sent humans to the moon. 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. For her work, she was honored with the presidential medal of. Margaret hamilton, software programmer who got apollo 11 on.
In 1960 when she was just 24 years old, hamilton got a job as a programmer at mit to support her. 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. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. Margaret hamilton, leader of the team that developed the flight software for the agencys apollo missions, has been granted a nasa exceptional space act award for her scientific and technical contributions. When apollo 11 landed on the moon, it only had about 25 seconds of fuel left. Margaret hamilton, software programmer for apollo 11, has been awarded the presidential medal of freedom for for her pun incoming. If you have ever flown on an airplane, you probably know some of the flight was managed by computers. Margaret hamilton was only 24 years old with an undergraduate degree in mathematics when she got a job as a programmer at mit. In 1986, margaret hamilton was awarded the ada lovelace award by the association for women in computing. A new playset from lego will honor four key women in nasa historyastronomer nancy grace roman, computer scientist margaret hamilton, and pioneering astronauts sally ride and mae jemison. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer, project apollo.
Half a century ago, mit played a critical role in the development of the flight software for nasas apollo program, which landed humans on the moon for the first time in 1969. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. Apollo code developer margaret hamilton receives presidential. Is this a photo of margaret hamilton standing next to apollo. Nasa astronauts sally ride and mae jemison, astronomer nancy grace roman and computer scientist margaret hamilton are celebrated for their contributions to space exploration and astronomy in the new lego ideas set, women of nasa. Margaret hamilton, nee margaret heafield, born august 17, 1936, paoli, indiana, u. It said it was margaret hamilton, apollo program, but it didnt say who margaret hamilton was. Margaret hamilton awarded presidential medal of freedom nasa. Aug 17, 2016 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. When i first got involved in apollo, i was coming off the sage project for the lincoln labs. Meet margaret hamilton, who laid the steps of computer code. Hamiltons code was good so good, in fact, that it very well might have saved the entire apollo 11 mission. Patches shop nasa the gift shop at nasa johnson space. Apollo 11 was the most memorable of all of my memorable experiences.
There originaly is only 12 patches for 17 missions because patches were only made for manned flights. Apollo program patches are on sale at the space store now. She helped write the computer code for the command and lunar modules used on the apollo missions to the moon in. Hamilton is a computer scientist who was instrumental to nasas efforts to land humans on the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. A new lego set honors the women of nasaand it looks pretty.
Nov 17, 2016 techcrunch reporter devin coldewey writes that margaret hamilton, a computing pioneer who led the development of the apollo programs onboard flight software during her time at mit, has been named a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom. She was director of the software engineering division of the mit instrumentation laboratory, which developed onboard flight software for nasa s apollo program. Writing for smithsonian, alice george highlights margaret hamilton s work leading the team at the mit instrumentation lab that developed the software for the apollo 11 mission. She was director of the software engineering division of the mit instrumentation laboratory, which developed onboard flight software for nasas apollo program. The space store has the nasa apollo mission patches, from the official nasa patch vendor. Margaret hamilton was the lead software engineer of the apollo project. The first flight was apollo 7, october 27, 1961 and the. The agc code has been available to the public for quite a whileit was first uploaded by tech researcher ron burkey in 2003, after hed transcribed it from scanned images of. Margaret hamilton, who wrote apollo spacecraft guidance software, awarded presidential medal of freedom.
On 20th july 1969, the big day for nasa, mit, and margaret hamilton had finally arrived. Margaret hamilton, founder and ceo of hamilton technologies, inc. Hamilton and her team developed was truly a pioneering effort, said nasa administrator sean okeefe. Margaret hamilton was a lead software designer who developed the onboard flight software for the apollo missions. The legs continue with the printing of the dress with the same design along with the lower part of the legs and shoes. You also may have heard airbus recently acknowledged the crash of a spanish a400 plane was caused by faulty software configuration of the engines.
Named as apollo 8 and apollo 10, launched in 1968 and 1969 respectively, the two spacecrafts orbited around the moon and returned safely to the earth. It said it was margaret hamilton, apollo program, but it didnt say who. Margaret hamilton, lead software engineer of the apollo. The apollo 11 moon landing was one of the most memorable moments of 20thcentury history, and margaret hamilton s code made it possible. Before nasa selected their first class of female astronauts in 1979, hamilton was working hard at mit to make the apollo missions possible. In a maledominated field, hamilton became known as. She is a computer scientist, a systems engineer, and even a business owner. Its easy to forget now, when weve come so far, where now marriage is equal under the law, just how much courage was required for ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago.
Margaret elaine heafield hamilton is a computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner. Margaret hamilton led the team that developed this new software. About margaret hamilton nasa office of logic design. The untold story of the woman who took us to the moon. Margaret hamilton with her code, lead software engineer. As you might expect, she was given a very low priority task. Margaret hamilton, apollo software engineer, awarded. Dec 08, 2014 margaret hamilton, lead software engineer, project apollo. Margaret heafield hamilton born august 17, 1936 is an american computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner. One such woman was margaret hamilton, who worked on every manned apollo mission, and several unmanned ones. And so just as she was about to resume her postgraduate study of abstract maths, and possibly put her programming skills to one side, margaret hamilton changed her plans. See more ideas about apollo, apollo space program and apollo missions.
She was director of the software engineering division 2 of the mit instrumentation laboratory, which developed onboard flight software for apollo. View the profiles of people named margaret hamilton. Women like margaret hamilton, who, beginning in 1961, helped nasa develop the apollo programs guidance system that took u. See more ideas about margaret hamilton, wizard of oz and wizard of oz 1939. Margaret hamilton takes software engineering to the moon and.
This is a great photo i just ran across on the internets. Margaret hamilton has a long list of accomplishments. The rope mother margaret hamilton national air and space. She postponed her phd in abstract math when offered the opportunity to work on nasas apollo program. You also may have heard airbus recently acknowledged the crash of a spanish a400 plane was. The apollo 11 moon landing was one of the most memorable moments of 20thcentury history, and margaret hamiltons code made it possible. Youll not only learn the skills but get a chance to apply them on a realworld project. For her work during this period, hamilton has been credited with popularizing the. Margaret hamilton was a participant in agc project conference 1 and conference 2. She had smaller dreams, but the apollo space program came along.
You can learn to code at our coding bootcamp in the denver area. Apollo guidance computer history project first conference july 27, 2001. How history obscured the legacy of margaret hamilton. Apollo 11 facts 30 interesting facts about apollo 11. Margaret hamiltons introduction for apollo guidance computer history project. Once the code was solid, it would be shipped off to a nearby raytheon facility where a group of women, expert seamstresses known to the apollo program as the little old ladies, threaded copper wires through magnetic rings a wire going through a core was a 1. Margaret hamilton as hamiltons career got under way, the software world was on the verge of a giant leap, thanks to the apollo program launched by john f. You must not wonder very much because its been wellcovered in the news. After apollo, hamilton also worked on skylab the united states first space station and some of the preliminary system software requirements for the space shuttles flight software, though. 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. Margaret hamilton, programmer kids, code, and computer. The apollo program, known as project apollo was the third united states human spaceflight program carried out by the nasa, which accomplished landing the first humans on the moon from 1969 to 1972. Apollo 1 apollo 7 apollo 8 apollo 9 apollo 10 apollo 11 apollo 12 apollo apollo 14 apollo 15 apollo 16. For her work during this period, hamilton has been credited with popularizing the concept of software engineering.