Kathleen Howell

Kathleen Connor Howell is an American 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.

[3] Howell's work[4] 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.

[5] Howell is currently the Editor-In-Chief Emeritus of the AAS Journal of the Astronautical Sciences;[6] she is also a member of other editorial boards.

[7] In 2007, she delivered the Breakwell Memorial Lecture at the Astrodynamics Symposium at the International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad, India.

The entry honors Howell as “instrumental in advancing dynamical systems theory and invariant manifolds, culminating in trajectory optimization.

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