Kathleen Howell

Kathleen Howell is an American scientist and aerospace engineer known for her contributions to dynamical systems theory applied to spacecraft trajectory design which led to the use of halo orbit in multiple NASA space missions. She is currently the Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor at Purdue University in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.[1] In acknowledgment of her many achievements, Discover magazine recognized her in 2002 as one of the 50 most important women in science.[2]

Career

She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University in 1973. Howell then received her MS and PhD degrees from Stanford University in 1977 and 1983, respectively. Her PhD advisor was John Breakwell and her PhD dissertation was entitled "Three-dimensional, periodic halo orbits in the restricted three-body problem". Howell started as an assistant professor at Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1982 and is the School's first female tenured professor.

The Genesis mission's trajectory and flight plan which includes 5 halo loops based on Howell's work

Howell's work[3] on computing the characteristics of the invariant manifolds associated with halo orbits was first applied for design of trajectory for Genesis mission and enabling low-energy sample return from Sun-Earth L1 point. The spacecraft trajectory for Genesis exploiting Howell's manifold method was computed by Howell and her student Brian Barden during a weekend in August 1996 after an urgent request from Jet Propulsion Lab scientist Martin Lo.[4]

Awards and honors

Howell is a 1984 winner of the 1984 Presidential Young Investigator Award, presented to her at the White House by Ronald Reagan, and the 2004 recipient of the Dirk Brouwer Award from the American Astronautical Society.[5]

In 2017 Kathleen Howell was elected to National Academy of Engineering with a citation "For contributions in dynamical systems theory and invariant manifolds culminating in optimal interplanetary trajectories and the Interplanetary Superhighway".[6]

Papers

References
  1. "Kathleen Howell". Purdue University. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  2. Svitil, Kathy (13 November 2002). "The 50 Most Important Women in Science". Discover. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  3. Howell, K; Barden, B; Lo, M (1997). "Application of Dynamical Systems Theory to Trajectory Design for a Libration Point Mission". Journal of Astronautical Sciences. 45 (2): 161–178. doi:10.1007/BF03546374.
  4. Taubes, Gary (June 1, 1999). "Surfing the Solar System". Discover. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  5. "Dirk Brouwer Award". American Astronautical Society. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  6. "NAE Members Directory: Kathleen Connor Howell".
  7. Howell, K. C.: "Three-Dimensional, Periodic, 'Halo' Orbits", Celestial Mechanics, Volume 32, Number 53, 1984
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