Mort de Margaret Hamilton, pionnière américaine en science de l'informatique et figure du programme Apollo
Margaret Hamilton, the American scientist who led the development of the computer system used by the Apollo lunar program, died at the age of 90, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she worked for nearly twenty years, announced Wednesday.
"Margaret Hamilton, a highly influential computer scientist known for leading the team" responsible for developing the computer system at "MIT during NASA's Apollo program, died on September 30. She was 90 years old," the prestigious institution wrote on its website.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman praised her on X as "a pioneer whose work helped make the Apollo program and the first manned journeys to the Moon possible."
"The best way to honor his legacy is to pick up where his generation left off and never stop moving forward," he added.
The famous Apollo program enabled the Americans to beat the Soviet Union in the first race to the Moon, in the 1960s and 1970s.
NASA's Artemis 3 mission, which is to send astronauts to the Moon for the first time since the last Apollo mission in 1972, is scheduled for 2027, after several delays.
Born in 1936 in Indiana, Margaret Hamilton studied mathematics before working in the meteorology department at MIT, and later on the first American air defense system.
In 1965, she applied to a university laboratory, "the Instrumentation Lab", specializing in the design of aeronautical instruments and then looking for experts to develop a computer program to "send a man to the Moon".
"Intrigued by this challenge," Margaret Hamilton "was hired as the first Apollo programmer at MIT, becoming the first female programmer on the project," the university said in a statement paying tribute to her.
In 1968, she led the team responsible for developing the software for the lunar program.
Eight years later, in 1976, Margaret Hamilton left MIT to found her own computer company.
Having become an iconic figure of a female scientist, she is particularly known to the general public thanks to a photo depicting her, with round glasses and a big smile, next to a pile of computer code as tall as her.
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