Writing for Astronomy, Korey Haynes features Saydean Zeldin’s work at the MIT Instrumentation Lab designing software that allowed the Apollo astronauts to control the spacecraft engines. Haynes notes that Zeldin has had “a major hand in the way technology works today.”
Writing for Astronomy, Korey Haynes spotlights Elaine Denniston, who was hired as a keypuncher at the MIT Instrumentation Lab, but went above and beyond, reviewing the Apollo code for errors. Denniston, who went on to become a lawyer, says that she “didn’t realize then that what I did was anything special. I typed, I found errors, I nagged people.”
Code developed by Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of the onboard flight software for the Apollo missions at the MIT Instrumentation Lab, was “good — so good, in fact, that it very well might have saved the entire Apollo 11 mission,” writes Dylan Matthews for Vox.
Washington Post reporter Martin Weil spotlights the work of Prof. Fernando Corbató, who “drastically expanded the usefulness of the computer and put its benefits at the reach of all.” Weil notes that Corbató, who died on July 12, “fostered the digital revolution by developing shared computer operating systems and also put his stamp on daily life by introducing the computer password.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, Shirley Leung spotlights the thousands of women who helped make the Apollo 11 mission a success, including Margaret Hamilton and Saydean Zeldin of the MIT Instrumentation Lab. Zeldin, who worked on the program responsible for turning the command module’s engines on and off, recalls that she “had to formulate the equations that we were going to code.”
CBS News reporter Norah O’Donnell explores how Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of the onboard flight software for the Apollo missions, was “critical to the success of the Apollo 11 mission.” Hamilton explains that, “It was the first time man walked on the moon and the first time software ran on the moon.”
CBS News reporter William Harwood spotlights the Apollo 11 astronauts who made history by successfully completing the first landing on the moon, including Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, who “earned a Ph.D. in orbital mechanics from MIT and helped perfect the rendezvous techniques needed by Apollo crews.”
Prof. Emeritus Fernando Corbató, a computer pioneer known for his work with time-sharing computing systems and for inventing the computer password, has died at 93, reports the BBC. “Our world would be very different without his research and that of his descendants,” said Prof. Fadel Adib. “He inspires in his work and his legacy."
Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of the onboard flight software for the Apollo missions at MIT, speaks with Guardian reporter Zoë Corbyn about her trailblazing work in computing. When asked her advice for young women interested in computer programming, Hamilton says, “Don’t let fear get in the way and don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand” – no question is a dumb question.”
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray explores how MIT Instrumentation Lab researchers helped pave the way for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Bray notes Instrumentation Lab researchers “developed one of its most vital components: the guidance and navigation systems that directed the Apollo command and landing crafts to — and onto — the moon.”
New York Times reporter Katie Hafner memorializes the life and work of Professor Emeritus Fernando Corbató, known for his work on computer time-sharing systems. Hafner notes that Corbató’s work on “computer time-sharing in the 1960s helped pave the way for the personal computer, as well as the computer password.”
Smithsonian reporters Abigail Croll and Maddi Hellmich spotlight Margaret Hamilton’s work developing the coding used in the Apollo 11 onboard flight software and lunar landing machinery. “Because software was a mystery, a black box, upper management gave us total freedom and trust,” says Hamilton. “Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers."
Writing for PBS’ American Experience about the women who helped ensure the success of the Apollo 11 mission, Nathalia Holt highlights the work of Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of software for the Apollo missions while at MIT.
WCVB-TV’s Chronicle spotlights how researchers at the MIT Instrumentation Lab developed the technology needed to successfully bring Apollo astronauts to the moon.
In an article for The Washington Post, Prof. Kate Brown examines the impacts of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Brown notes that the consequences of the accident reached further than initially thought, writing that “the fallout map shows that Chernobyl radioactivity drifted widely across Europe, usually in areas with higher altitudes and precipitation.”