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Margaret Hamilton’s Apollo fix prevented abort after error 1202

By Drooid · Oct 10, 2026, 9:57 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Margaret Hamilton Dies

Margaret Hamilton died on September 30, 2026, at a Cambridge, Massachusetts hospital.
She led the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory team that created the Apollo Guidance Computer software.
Her priority-driven code shut down nonessential tasks during Apollo 11, preventing an abort when error 1202 appeared.
Hamilton coined the term “software engineering” while directing Apollo software development.
President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Summary

Hamilton Triggers Bug

Lauren Hamilton accidentally triggered a pre-launch simulator program, exposing a critical software vulnerability.
NASA dismissed Hamilton’s safeguard proposal, assuming trained astronauts would not repeat the mistake.
Jim Lovell repeated the error during Apollo 8, prompting Hamilton’s team to implement a defensive fix.
Hamilton was the first female programmer hired for NASA’s Apollo guidance computer project.

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Margaret Hamilton Dies

Margaret Hamilton died on September 30, 2026, at a Cambridge, Massachusetts hospital.
She led the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory team that created the Apollo Guidance Computer software.
Her priority-driven code shut down nonessential tasks during Apollo 11, preventing an abort when error 1202 appeared.
Hamilton coined the term “software engineering” while directing Apollo software development.
President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

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