Hamilton Tributes Pour In: Ars Technica Says Her Code Saved Apollo 11

Hamilton coined the term software engineering and founded two successful software companies after leading NASA's Apollo program's groundbreaking software team.

On air: Hank Ledger and Dale Bearman on After the Bell
Published 5:16 PM ET, Thursday, October 8, 2026

At a glance

First reported by Ars Technica: “R.I.P. Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing”, with reporting from AP News.
Covered on BBN on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at 5:16 PM ET on After the Bell, by Hank Ledger and Dale Bearman.
Topics: NASA, Apollo.
BBN covered this story before: Hamilton Tributes Build; Google's AI Detector Goes Global (October 8).

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

Ars TechnicaR.I.P. Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing
AP NewsMargaret Hamilton, who led a software team for NASA’s Apollo program, dies at 90

What BBN said about it

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAs we told you earlier, Margaret Hamilton, who led software for NASA's Apollo program, has died at ninety, per AP and the Washington Times.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNew since then: Ars Technica says her code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and that she coined the term software engineering.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorShe also founded two successful software companies.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorHer software kept a lunar landing on track with a computer weaker than a toaster.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorMeanwhile, today's Nasdaq lost one point two five percent with all the compute in the world.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe Nasdaq closed at twenty-seven thousand one ninety-three. Fair point, Dale, though your toaster comparison is doing a lot of work.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorShe wrote code so good it ignored the bad alarms and landed anyway. Wall Street can't ignore a single tweet. Humanity peaked in 1969, Hank.