Press & Coverage
Hamilton’s work has been featured across major publications, especially since the Apollo 11 source code was published to GitHub in 2016. Below is a curated collection of press coverage, each with an Internet Archive backup link for long-term preservation.
MIT News
Section titled “MIT News”Coverage from Hamilton’s home institution, where she led the Software Engineering Division at the Instrumentation Laboratory.
Scene at MIT: Margaret Hamilton’s Apollo Code (2016)
Section titled “Scene at MIT: Margaret Hamilton’s Apollo Code (2016)”The story behind the iconic 1969 photograph of Hamilton standing beside the printed Apollo code listings. Includes her own description of the original caption and a reflection on the software experience.
“We had to find a way and we did. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers; no time to be beginners.”
By Maia Weinstock, MIT News Office. August 17, 2016.
Recalling the ‘Giant Leap’ (2009)
Section titled “Recalling the ‘Giant Leap’ (2009)”MIT vignettes from the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. Hamilton describes being in the SCAMA room when the 1202/1201 priority alarms fired during the lunar descent, and how the software’s recovery mechanisms prevented a mission abort.
“The software was not only informing everyone that there was a hardware-related problem, but that the software was compensating for it.”
Major Publications
Section titled “Major Publications””Her Code Got Humans on the Moon — And Invented Software Itself” (2015)
Section titled “”Her Code Got Humans on the Moon — And Invented Software Itself” (2015)”Robert McMillan’s landmark Wired feature on Hamilton’s career, from her early days at MIT through the development of the Apollo flight software and the founding of Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies.
Margaret Hamilton Led the NASA Software Team That Landed Astronauts on the Moon (2019)
Section titled “Margaret Hamilton Led the NASA Software Team That Landed Astronauts on the Moon (2019)”Alice George writing for Smithsonian Magazine profiles Hamilton’s leadership of the MIT Instrumentation Lab team. Includes quotes from Teasel Muir-Harmony, curator at the National Air and Space Museum: “She was a pioneer when it came to development of software engineering.”
— Smithsonian Magazine · Archived
CBS Boston Interview (2019)
Section titled “CBS Boston Interview (2019)”CBS Boston speaks with Hamilton about her role in the Apollo 11 moon mission and her career at MIT. “I was the only woman in the beginning in the field,” says Hamilton. “At MIT, they cared more about that you knew what you were doing and could help them solve their problem because they had a deadline.”
— CBS Boston · Archived
10 Pioneering Women in STEM (2019)
Section titled “10 Pioneering Women in STEM (2019)”Emily Dreyfuss profiles Hamilton among ten pioneering women in STEM for Wired, noting that without her, “the modern computing era would not be what it is today.”
The Untold Story of the Woman Who Took Us to the Moon
Section titled “The Untold Story of the Woman Who Took Us to the Moon”Futurism profiles Hamilton’s career, including her account of the original caption for the famous code-stack photograph.
Women You Should Know: Margaret Hamilton at 80
Section titled “Women You Should Know: Margaret Hamilton at 80”A video celebrating Hamilton’s 80th birthday and her Apollo code contributions: “Her Apollo code ultimately saved the Apollo 11 astronauts from having to abort their historic moon landing.”
— Women You Should Know · Archived
The Apollo Code on GitHub
Section titled “The Apollo Code on GitHub”In July 2016, former NASA intern Chris Garry published the complete Apollo 11 guidance computer source code to GitHub, bringing Hamilton’s team’s work to a new generation of developers. The repository has over 56,000 stars.
— Quartz: “The code that took America to the moon” · Archived
Related Resources
Section titled “Related Resources”- MIT Museum: Margaret Hamilton Apollo Photos · Archived
- MIT Libraries: MIT and Project Apollo · Archived
- Hamilton Technologies, Inc. · Archived