NASA’s first software engineer: Margaret Hamilton - Matt Porter & Margaret Hamilton

Prevodilac: Aleksandar Bošnjak Lektor: Ivana Korom

At roughly 4pm on July 20, 1969,

Oko otprilike četiri sata popodne 20. jula 1969. godine,

mankind was just minutes away from landing on the surface of the moon.

čovenčanstvo je bilo samo nekoliko minuta od sletanja na površinu Meseca.

But before the astronauts began their final descent,

Ali pre nego što su astronauti započeli spuštanje,

an emergency alarm lit up.

alarm upozorenja se upalio.

Something was overloading the computer,

Nešto je preopterećivalo računar,

and threatened to abort the landing.

i pretilo da se misija obustavi.

Back on Earth, Margaret Hamilton held her breath.

Nazad na Zemlji, Margaret Hamilton držala je dah.

She'd led the team developing the pioneering in-flight software,

Vodila je tim koji je prvi razvio softver koji radi tokom letenja,

so she knew this mission had no room for error.

znala je da ne sme da se desi nijedna greška.

But the nature of this last-second emergency

Ali ovo upozorenje koje se desilo u poslednjoj sekundi

would soon prove her software was working exactly as planned.

je dokazalo da je njen softver radio baš onako kako je isplanirano.

Born 33 years earlier in Paoli, Indiana, Hamilton had always been inquisitive.

Rođena 33 godine ranije u Paoli, Indijani, Hamiltonova je oduvek bila radoznala.

In college, she studied mathematics and philosophy,

Na fakultetu je studirala matematiku i filozofiju,

before taking a research position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

pre nego što je prihvatila poziciju istraživača na MIT-ju

to pay for grad school.

kako bi platila postdiplomske studije.

Here, she encountered her first computer while developing software

Tamo se susrela sa prvim računarom dok je razvijala softver

to support research into the new field of chaos theory.

koji bi dao potporu istaživanju nove oblasti teorije haosa.

Next at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory,

Potom u Linkoln laboratoriji na MIT-ju

Hamilton developed software for America’s first air defense system

Hamiltonova je razvila softver za prvi američki sistem protivvazdušne odbrane

to search for enemy aircraft.

kako bi tragali za neprijateljskim letelicama.

But when she heard that renowned engineer Charles Draper

Ali kad je čula da je poznati inženjer Čarls Drejper

was looking for help sending mankind to the moon,

tražio pomoć kako bi poslao čovečanstvo na Mesec,

she immediately joined his team.

odmah se pridružila timu.

NASA looked to Draper and his group of over 400 engineers

NASA je polagala nadu u Drejpera i njegovu grupu od oko 400 inženjera

to invent the first compact digital flight computer,

da izumeju prvi digitalni, leteći kompaktni računar,

the Apollo Guidance Computer.

Apolo Računar za Navođenje.

Koristeći ulazne informacije od astronauta,

Using input from astronauts,

this device would be responsible for guiding, navigating

ovaj uređaj je bio odgovoran za navođenje, upravljanje

and controlling the spacecraft.

i kontrolu svemirske letelice.

At a time when unreliable computers filled entire rooms,

U trenutku kada su nepouzdani računari ispunjavali cele prostorije,

the AGC needed to operate without any errors,

ARN je trebalo da funkcioniše bez greške,

and fit in one cubic foot of space.

i da stane u 0,02 metara kubnih.

Draper divided the lab into two teams,

Drejper je podelio laboratoriju u dva tima,

one for designing hardware and one for developing software.

jedan bi dizajnirao hardver, a drugi bi razvijao softver.

Hamilton led the team that built the on-board flight software

Hamiltonova je vodila tim koji je pravio softver koji bi radio tokom letenja

for both the Command and Lunar Modules.

i za komandni i za lunarni modul.

This work, for which she coined the term “software engineering,"

Ovaj posao, za koji je skovala izraz „softversko inženjerstvo”

was incredibly high stakes.

je bio neverovatno riskantan.

Human lives were on the line, so every program had to be perfect.

Ljudski životi su bili u opasnosti, pa su svi programi morali biti savšeni.

Margaret’s software needed to quickly detect unexpected errors

Margaretin softver je trebalo da brzo detektuje neočekivane greške

and recover from them in real time.

i da se oporavi od njih u realnom vremenu.

But this kind of adaptable program was difficult to build,

Ali ovakvu vrstu adaptivnog programa je bilo teško smisliti,

since early software could only process jobs in a predetermined order.

pošto su rani softveri mogli samo da procesuiraju radnje u predodređenom redu.

To solve this problem,

Kako bi rešila ovaj problem,

Margaret designed her program to be “asynchronous,”

Margaret je dizajnirala svoj program da bude asinhron,

meaning the software's more important jobs would interrupt less important ones.

što znači da bi važnije radnje prekinule one koje su manje važne.

Her team assigned every task a unique priority

Njen tim je dodelio svakom zadatku jedinsveni prioritet

to ensure that each job occurred in the correct order

kako bi osigurali da se svaka radnja desi po pravilnom redu

and at the right time— regardless of any surprises.

i u pravom trenutku, bez obzira na bilo kakva iznenađenja.

After this breakthrough,

Nakon ovog otkrića,

Margaret realized her software could help the astronauts work

Margaret je shvatila da njen softver može pomoći astronautima da rade

in an asynchronous environment as well.

u asinhronom okruženju.

She designed Priority Displays

Dizajnirala je ekrane prioriteta

that would interrupt astronaut’s regularly scheduled tasks

koji bi prekinuli redovne planirane zadatke astronauta

to warn them of emergencies.

kako bi ih upozorili o hitnim stanjima.

The astronaut could then communicate with Mission Control

Astronauti su mogli da komuniciraju sa Centrom za kontrolu misije (CKM)

to determine the best path forward.

kako bi se odlučili za najbolji put.

This marked the first time flight software communicated directly—

Ovo je označeno kao prvi put da softver za let komunicira direktno

and asynchronously— with a pilot.

i asinhrono sa pilotom.

It was these fail safes that triggered the alarms just before the lunar landing.

Upravo ove sigurnosne mere su pokrenule alarme tik pred sletanje na mesec.

Buzz Aldrin quickly realized his mistake—

Baz Oldrin je brzo shvatio svoju grešku,

he’d inadvertently flipped the rendezvous radar switch.

on je slučajno stisnuo prekidač za radar.

This radar would be essential on their journey home,

Ovaj radar je bio esencijalan za njihov povratak kući,

but here it was using up vital computational resources.

ali ovde je koristio bitne računarske resurse.

Fortunately, the Apollo Guidance Computer was well equipped to manage this.

Na sreću, Apolo Računar za Navođenje bio je dobro opremljen da rešio ovo.

During the overload, the software restart programs

Tokom preopterećenja, softver restartuje programe

allowed only the highest priority jobs to be processed—

dozvoljavajući samo radnjama visokog prioriteta da budu procesuirane,

including the programs necessary for landing.

uključujući programe neophodne za sletanje.

The Priority Displays gave the astronauts a choice—

Ekrani prioriteta su dali izbor astronautima,

to land or not to land.

sleteti ili ne sleteti.

With minutes to spare, Mission Control gave the order.

U roku od nekoliko minuta, CKM je dao naređenje.

The Apollo 11 landing was about the astronauts, Mission Control,

Sletanje letelice Apolo 11 se desilo zahvaljujući astronautima,

software and hardware all working together as an integrated system of systems.

kontroli misije, softvera i hardvera koji su radili zajedno kao jedan.

Hamilton’s contributions were essential to the work of engineers and scientists

Doprinosi Hamiltonove su bili presudni za rad inženjera i naučnika

inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s goal to reach the Moon.

koje je inspirisao cilj predsednika Džona F. Kenedija da dosegnu do Meseca.

And her life-saving work went far beyond Apollo 11—

Njen spasilački rad je daleko dogurao -

no bugs were ever found in the in-flight software for any crewed Apollo missions.

nikad nije bila nađena greška u softveru bilo koje posade Apolo misija.

After her work on Apollo,

Nakon njenog rada na Apolu,

Hamilton founded a company that uses its unique universal systems language

Hamiltonova je osnovala kompaniju koja koristi univerzalni jezik sistema

to create breakthroughs for systems and software.

kako bi stvorili napretke za sisteme i softver.

In 2003, NASA honored her achievements with the largest financial award

Godine 2003. NASA je počastvovala njena dostignuća

najvećom finansijskom nagradom koju su ikad dali individui.

they’d ever given to an individual.

And 47 years after her software first guided astronauts to the moon,

I 47 godina nakon što je njen softver prvi put vodio astronaute na Mesec,

Hamilton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Hamiltonova je nagrađena predsedničkom medaljom slobode

for changing the way we think about technology.

zbog menjanja načina na koji mislimo o tehnologiji.