In the USA, programmer Margaret Hamilton has died at the age of 90

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of onboard software for NASA's Apollo lunar program, has died in the United States at the age of 90. Her death was announced by MIT.

Hamilton passed away on September 30. She worked at the institute from 1959 to the mid-1970s and headed a department of specialists developing software for manned spacecraft. From 1969 to 1972, she participated in supporting six lunar expeditions.

The system of priority distribution of computational tasks developed under her leadership played a crucial role during the landing of the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969. Before landing, the module encountered an overload of the onboard computer with unnecessary calculations from the radar, but the software automatically filtered out secondary processes and allowed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land safely on the lunar surface.

Later, Hamilton's developments were used in the creation of the Skylab orbital station and in the initial stages of designing space shuttles. Throughout her career, the scientist published over 130 scientific papers and created her own technology companies. In 2016, US President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.