ARES | Bios | Heather Cowardin

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Picture of Heather Cowardin, Scientist, Orbital Debris Program Office, NASA

Heather Cowardin

Scientist, Orbital Debris Program Office | NASA

Heather Cowardin

Scientist, Orbital Debris Program Office
NASA

Email

heather.cowardin@nasa.gov

Phone

281.483.2938

Email

heather.cowardin@nasa.gov

Phone

281.483.2938

Biography

Dr. Heather M. Cowardin is a Planetary Studies and Space Scientist within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). Her roles within the Hypervelocity and Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) include leading in situ and laboratory research and operations. Dr. Cowardin also serves as the XI5/ Orbital Debris Business Unit Manager.

Prior to this she served as the Section Manager and Project Manager for the Orbital Debris Research Section under the Science & Exploration Department of the JETS contract with NASA JSC, as well as, concurrently leading the Orbital Debris Research & Development task group on the JETS contract. She began her career in orbital debris as an intern with the ODPO at NASA JSC. Soon after she started a full-time position supporting the ODPO while also attending the University of Houston that facilitated the completion of her Ph.D. in Space Physics. Her dissertation, entitled “Characterization of Orbital Debris Objects over Optical Wavelengths via Laboratory Measurements,” and professional research covers characterization of earth orbiting objects over optical and near infrared wavelengths using telescopic and laboratory measurements. One of the highlights accomplished during her career was establishing an optical facility, NASA’s Optical Measurement Center, which simulates space-based illumination conditions using equipment and techniques that recreate telescopic observations and source-target-sensor orientations.

During her tenure with the JETS contract, she also served as the Optical Measurements lead that directly supported establishing and operating the John Africano NASA-AFRL Orbital Debris Observatory on Ascension Island. Dr. Cowardin also led the multiple optical campaigns, data reduction, and analysis of telescopic observations of Earth-orbiting objects in LEO through GEO using a variety of optical-infrared telescopes.

Dr. Cowardin is author or co-author on over 100 publications and presentations and continues to lead multiple research projects focused on orbital debris characterization via laboratory, remote sensing, and in-situ experiments and measurements. She has also received several awards including the NASA JSC Director’s Innovation Award and Engineering and Science Contract Group Innovation of the Year Award. Dr. Cowardin also serves on various panels that promote STEM projects/research at all educational levels and is a strong advocate for women in science.

Education

Ph.D.

Space Physics

University of Houston, Houston, TX

2010

M.S.

Physics

University of Houston, Houston, TX

2006

B.S.

Physics

University of Houston, Houston, TX

2004

Education

Ph.D., Space Physics, 2010

University of Houston, Houston, TX

M.S., Physics, 2006

University of Houston, Houston, TX

B.S., Physics, 2004

University of Houston, Houston, TX

Select Publications

Cowardin, H. , Anz-Meador, P., Reyes, J., “Characterizing GEO Titan IIIC Transtage Fragmentations using Ground-based and Telescopic Measurements,” AMOS 2017, Maui, Hawaii, 19-22 September 2017.

Frith, J., Barker, E., Cowardin, H. , Buckalew, B., Anz-Meador, P., Lederer, S., “Characterizing the Survey Strategy and Initial Orbit Determination Abilities of the NASA MCAT,” AMOS 2017, Maui, Hawaii, 19-22 September 2017.

Engelhart, D., Cooper, R., Cowardin, H. , Maxwell, J., Plis, E., Barton, D., Schiefer, S. and R. Hoffmann, R., “Space Weathering Experiments on Spacecraft Materials,” AMOS 2017, Maui, Hawaii, 19-22 September 2017.

Lederer, S., Hickson, P., Cowardin, H. , Buckalew, B., Frith, J., Alliss, R., “NASA's Optical Program on Ascension Island: Bringing MCAT to Life as the Eugene Stansbery-Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (ES-MCAT),” AMOS 2017, Maui, Hawaii, 19-22 September 2017.

Seitzer, P., Barker, E., Buckalew, B., Burkhardt, A., Cowardin, H. , Frith, J., Kaleida, C., Lederer, S., “A Search for Debris from Two Titan 3C Transtage Breakups at GEO with a 6.5-m Magellan Telescope,” AMOS 2017, Maui, Hawaii, 19-22 September 2017.

Cowardin, H. , et al., “Characterization of Orbital Debris via Hyper-velocity Laboratory-based Tests,” 7th European Conference on Space Debris, 17 - 21 April 2017, Darmstadt, Germany

Lederer, S., Cowardin, H. , Buckalew, B., Frith, J., Hickson, P., Pace, L., Matney, M., Anz-Meador, P., Seitzer, P., Stansbery, E., and Glesne, T., “NASA's Orbital Debris Optical and IR Ground-based Observing Program Utilizing the MCAT, UKIRT, and Magellan Telescopes,” AMOS 2016, Maui, Hawaii, 20-23 September 2016.

Moraguez, M., Patankar, K., Fitz-Coy, N.,Liou, J.-C., Sorge, M., Huynh, T., Cowardin, H. , Opiela, J., and Krisko, P., “An Imaging System for Automated Characteristic Length Measurement of DebriSat Fragments,” 66th International Astronautical Congress, Jerusalem, Israel, 12-16 October 2015.

M. RIVERO, I. EDHLUND, N. FITZ-COY, J.-C. LIOU, M. SORGE, T. HUYNH, J. OPIELA, H. COWARDIN, AND P. KRISKO, “Hypervelocity Impact Testing of DebriSat to Improve Satellite Breakup Modeling”, The 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), 29 September - 3 October 2014, Toronto, Canada.

H. Cowardin, S. Lederer, G. Stansbery, P. Seitzer, B. Buckalew, K. Abercromby, E. Barker, “NASA's Optical Measurement Program 2014,” AMOS 2014, Maui, Hawaii, 11 September 2014.

H. Cowardin, P.Seitzer, K. Abercromby, E. Barker, B. Buckalew, T. Cardona, P. Krisko, S. Lederer, Observations of Titan IIIC Transtage fragmentation debris, AMOS, 10-13 Sept 2013.

Liou, J.C., Lederer, S., Cowardin, H. , Mulrooney, M., Read, J., Chun, F., Dearborn, M., Tippets, R., “Light Curve Observations of Upper Stages in the Low Earth Orbit Environment,” 63rd International Astronautical Conference: 1-5 Oct 2012.

Ojakangas, O., Anz-Meador, P., Cowardin, H. , “Probable rotation states of rocket bodies in Low Earth Orbit,” AMOS, 11-14 Sept 2012.

Hejduk, M., Cowardin, H. , Stansbery, G., “Phase Function Determination in Support of Orbital Debris Size Estimation,” AMOS, 11-14 Sept 2012.

Cowardin, H. , Observations of Human-made Debris in Earth Orbit, Optical Instrumentation for Energy and Environmental Applications (E2) Conference, Austin, TX, 2-4 Nov, 2011.

Cowardin, H. , Characterization of Orbital Debris Objects over Optical Wavelengths via Laboratory Measurements, PhD thesis, Houston, TX, May 2010.