Margaret and the Moon

How Margaret Hamilton
Saved the First
Lunar Landing

 Knopf Books for Young Readers
(Random House Kids)

(pub. 5.16.2017)
40 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Dean Robbins
      and illustrator: Lucy Knisley

C haracter: Margaret Hamilton

O verview from the jacket flap: 

     "Margaret Hamilton always had questions,. About bugs. About baseball. About the stars in the sky. She wanted answers, so she sought them out herself.  
     Margaret's curiosity extended from the intricate logic of mathematics to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and eventually led her to NASA. And there, she wrote the code for the computer commands on the Apollo missions.
     A pioneer in her field, Margaret proves that nothing can stop you from finding the answers you seek."

T antalizing taste: 
      

     "For four days, the spacecraft drew nearer to the moon. The lunar module, named the Eagle, split off to make the landing.
     But within minutes left to go, an astronaut entered a command and the master alarm buzzed.
     The Eagle's computer started preforming too many tasks.  OVERLOAD! OVERLOAD!
     The control room panicked. The moon landing was in danger!
     Everyone looked at Margaret. Had she prepared for this problem?
     Of course!
     Margaret's code made the computer ignore the extra tasks and focus on the landing.
     It brought the Eagle closer to the moon's surface.
     Closer ... Closer ... TOUCH DOWN!"

 

and something more: I so clearly remember sitting on the floor of my living room watching the landing of the Eagle and the subsequent events. I was fascinated to learn from the Author's Note that "due to an error on the astronauts' checklist, a switch ended up in the wrong position and and a computer overloaded. It looked like the lunar module might have to turn back - and it might even crash! But Margaret's brilliant programming allowed the computer to zero in on its most important tasks: landing the spacecraft safely on the moon."
      I was pleased to learn that in 2003 Margaret "won NASA's Exceptional Space Act Award for her groundbreaking contributions to the United States Space program."  A true inspiration!