Margaret Hamilton with Printed Source Code for Apollo 11 Onboard Control Computer
Apollo 11 on-board computer source code
NASA programmer Margaret Hamilton, 29, is photographed with printed source code for the Apollo 11 missions 1969 onboard control computer.
Margaret Hamiltons team developed an operating system for the Apollo space program that prevented the possible failure of the moon landing.
This is how Hamilton recalled the story in an interview with Datamation magazine in 1971:
“The computer was smart enough to know that it was being asked to do more tasks than it should. He then sent an alarm that meant “Im overloaded with a large number of tasks and will leave only the most important ones”, that is, tasks that are necessary for landing... If the computer hadnt recognized this problem and taken remedial action, I doubt Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon.”
We previously published a 5 MB note in 1956.
NASA programmer Margaret Hamilton, 29, is photographed with printed source code for the Apollo 11 missions 1969 onboard control computer.
Margaret Hamiltons team developed an operating system for the Apollo space program that prevented the possible failure of the moon landing.
This is how Hamilton recalled the story in an interview with Datamation magazine in 1971:
“The computer was smart enough to know that it was being asked to do more tasks than it should. He then sent an alarm that meant “Im overloaded with a large number of tasks and will leave only the most important ones”, that is, tasks that are necessary for landing... If the computer hadnt recognized this problem and taken remedial action, I doubt Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon.”
We previously published a 5 MB note in 1956.
Contributed by OldPik on January 6, 2025
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