She currently serves as the passive thermal system manager for the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program, leading a small team of thermal analysts. Together, they provide expertise on passive thermal design, hardware, modeling, and testing to vendors and international partners that are developing rovers and tools for human exploration of the lunar surface.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/viper.jpg?w=1536\")
<\/a><\/figure>Howard said her sudden shift from thermal analysis engineer to thermal system manager involved a steep learning curve. \u201cEvery day was like drinking through a firehose. I had to learn very quickly about systems engineering tasks, project phases, and leadership, while also learning about many new thermal approaches and designs so that I could provide good insight to project leadership and program vendors and partners,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving a good group of senior engineers and friends to lean on and building up my team helped me get through it, but the single most important thing was not giving up. It gets easier and persistence pays off!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/conference-poster.jpg?w=1440\")
<\/a><\/figure>Howard feels fortunate to have worked on many interesting projects at NASA and presented her work at several conferences. Top achievements include watching her first NASA project launch successfully on Artemis I and supporting the LTV Source Evaluation Board as the thermal representative. \u201cSomething I\u2019m really proud of is obtaining funding for and managing a test that looked at thermal performance of dust mitigation for spacecraft radiators,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20240819-163642-rotated.jpg?w=1536\")
<\/a><\/figure>She believes interesting and challenging work is important but says the biggest determinant to professional success and satisfaction is your team and your team lead. \u201cHaving a really great team and team lead on Gateway thermal taught me the kind of leader and teammate I want to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Howard encourages fellow members of the Artemis Generation to not let imposter syndrome get in their way. \u201cFocus on the evidence of your abilities and remember that no one is in this alone,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to ask for help.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> Depending on where you stand at the lunar South Pole, you may experience temperatures of 130\u00b0F (54\u00b0C) during sunlit periods, or as low as -334\u00b0F (-203\u00b0C) in a permanently shadowed region. Keeping crews comfortable and tools and vehicles operational in such extreme temperatures is a key challenge for engineers at Johnson Space Center working on [\u2026] Continue reading
\nLinda E. Grimm <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"