Margaret Hamilton

IRL Name: 
Margaret Hamilton
Biography: 

Margaret Hamilton is a s a computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner. She was Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for the Apollo space program. In 1986, she became the founder and CEO of Hamilton Technologies, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was developed around the Universal Systems Language based on her paradigm of Development Before the Fact (DBTF) for systems and software design.

At NASA Hamilton was responsible for helping pioneer the Apollo on-board guidance software required to navigate and land on the moon, and its multiple variations used on numerous missions (including the subsequent Skylab).

Facts

Her work prevented an abort of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Credited for coining the term "software engineering"

Granted a NASA Exceptional Space Act Award for her scientific and technical contributions.

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