Dr. Robert L. Howard, Jr. ......................................................NASA Johnson Space Center

Dr. Robert L. Howard Jr.

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Dr. Robert Howard is the Habitability Domain Lead in the Habitability and Human Factors Branch and Co-Lead of the Center for Design and Space Architecture at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. He has served on design and test teams for several NASA spacecraft teams including the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Orion Capsule Parachute Assembly Team, Altair Lunar Lander, Deep Space Habitat, Waypoint Spacecraft, Exploration Augmentation Module, Asteroid Retrieval Utilization Mission, Habitable Airlock, Small Pressurized Rover, Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle, Gateway, Human Landing System, Foundation Surface Habitat, and Mars Transit Habitat, as well as Phobos and Deimos mission study teams. Currently, Dr. Howard is a member of the Lunar Architecture Team and the Mars Architecture Team, architecture and human factors lead for the outfitting and habitability testing of the 20 Foot Vacuum Chamber for the Exploration Atmospheres study, and the CHAPEA human factors lead. He has also led design studies for the Common Habitat, JUMP Lander, Deep Space Science Vessel, and Venus Investigative Flyer. He holds a Bachelor of Science in General Science from Morehouse College, Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, Master of Science in Industrial Engineering with a focus in Human Factors from North Carolina A&T State University, and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in Spacecraft Engineering from the University of Tennessee Space Institute. His Master’s Thesis was, “An Expert Systems Approach to Spacecraft Cabin Design” and his Doctoral Dissertation was, “Formation of a Cislunar Human Transportation Architecture Through the Use of Analytic, Heuristic, and Parametric Algorithms.” He also received a Certificate in Human Systems Integration from the Naval Postgraduate School and completed the Space Systems Engineering Development Program at Johnson Space Center. He has received numerous awards from NASA and community organizations, including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal, NASA Superior Accomplishment Award, numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards, the Benjamin Banneker Legacy Award, The Network Journal’s 40 Under 40 Achievement Award, and more. He has authored or co-authored more than ninety human spaceflight technical papers, which he has presented at scientific and engineering conferences across the country. Dr. Howard was born in Xenia, Ohio, but grew up primarily in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also lived briefly in Tallahassee, Florida, and Camp Springs, Maryland. In his spare time, he writes science fiction novels, including the Nubian Star Nation franchise, of which Books One and Two are currently available on Amazon.

Dr. Robert L. Howard, Jr. Habitability Domain Lead NASA Johnson Space Center 2101 NASA Parkway, Mail Code SF3, Houston, TX, 77058 robert.l.howard@nasa.gov 281-244-1007 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/habitability-design