India, Oct. 8 -- Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist who led software development for NASA's Apollo program and helped build the technology that took humans to the moon, has died at the age of 90.

Hamilton died on September 30, MIT said in an obituary published on October 7. During more than two decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she helped establish software engineering as a dedicated discipline and led the team responsible for the onboard flight software used during Apollo missions.

MIT described Hamilton as a "profoundly influential computer scientist" whose work extended far beyond the Apollo program. She authored more than 130 publications and later became a successful entrepreneur and CEO.

Hami...