World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

D-Index
80
Citations
22356
World Ranking
211
National Ranking
105

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in United States Leader Award
  • 2017 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For pioneering work on the motion of bodies in strongly perturbed environments such as near asteroids and comets.

Overview

Daniel J. Scheeres is affiliated with the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States. Their research primarily spans the fields of Physics and Astronomy as well as Engineering, with a specific focus on subfields such as Astronomy and Astrophysics, Aerospace Engineering, Atmospheric Science, Geophysics, and Statistical and Nonlinear Physics.

The scientist's work covers several main topics including:

  • Astro and Planetary Science
  • Planetary Science and Exploration
  • Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
  • Space Satellite Systems and Control
  • Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • High-pressure geophysics and materials

Daniel J. Scheeres has frequently published in venues such as:

  • Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics
  • Icarus
  • The Planetary Science Journal
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
  • The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences

Recent papers authored or co-authored by Daniel J. Scheeres include:

  • "Successful kinetic impact into an asteroid for planetary defence," 2023, published in Nature
  • "Momentum transfer from the DART mission kinetic impact on asteroid Dimorphos," 2023, published in Nature
  • "Radar observations and a physical model of binary near-Earth asteroid 65803 Didymos, target of the DART mission," 2020, published in Icarus
  • "Ejecta from the DART-produced active asteroid Dimorphos," 2023, published in Nature
  • "Global Patterns of Recent Mass Movement on Asteroid (101955) Bennu," 2020, published in Journal of Geophysical Research Planets

Frequent co-authors of their research include Patrick Michel, Alex J. Meyer, Jay W. McMahon, O. S. Barnouin, and Masatoshi Hirabayashi.

Daniel J. Scheeres was recognized as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2017 for pioneering work on the motion of bodies in strongly perturbed environments such as near asteroids and comets.

Best Publications

  • The operational environment and rotational acceleration of asteroid (101955) Bennu from OSIRIS-REx observations

    C. W. Hergenrother;C. K. Maleszewski;M. C. Nolan;J.-Y. Li

  • Exterior gravitation of a polyhedron derived and compared with harmonic and mascon gravitation representations of asteroid 4769 Castalia

    Robert A. Werner;Daniel J. Scheeres

  • OSIRIS-REx: Sample Return from Asteroid (101955) Bennu

    D. S. Lauretta;S. S. Balram-Knutson;E. Beshore;W. V. Boynton

  • The unexpected surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

    D. S. Lauretta;D. N. Dellagiustina;C. A. Bennett;D. R. Golish

  • Touchdown of the Hayabusa spacecraft at the Muses Sea on Itokawa.

    Hajime Yano;T. Kubota;H. Miyamoto;T. Okada

  • Orbits Close to Asteroid 4769 Castalia

    D.J. Scheeres;S.J. Ostro;R.S. Hudson;R.A. Werner

  • Scaling forces to asteroid surfaces: The role of cohesion

    D.J. Scheeres;C.M. Hartzell;P. Sánchez;M. Swift

  • Determination of Shape, Gravity, and Rotational State of Asteroid 433 Eros

    J.K. Miller;A.S. Konopliv;P.G. Antreasian;J.J. Bordi

  • Dynamics about Uniformly Rotating Triaxial Ellipsoids: Applications to Asteroids

    D.J. Scheeres

  • OSIRIS-REx: Sample Return from Asteroid (101955) Bennu

    D. S. Lauretta;S. S. Balram-Knutson;E. Beshore;W. V. Boynton

  • Orbital motion in strongly perturbed environments

    Daniel J. Scheeres

  • Mass and Local Topography Measurements of Itokawa by Hayabusa

    Shinsuke Abe;Tadashi Mukai;Naru Hirata;Naru Hirata;Olivier S. Barnouin-Jha

  • Nonlinear Mapping of Gaussian Statistics: Theory and Applications to Spacecraft Trajectory Design

    Ryan S. Park;Daniel J. Scheeres

  • Characterizing and navigating small bodies with imaging data

    R. W. Gaskell;O. S. Barnouin-Jha;D. J. Scheeres;A. S. Konopliv

  • Shape model and surface properties of the OSIRIS-REx target Asteroid (101955) Bennu from radar and lightcurve observations

    Michael C. Nolan;Christopher Magri;Ellen S. Howell;Lance A.M. Benner

  • Shape of (101955) Bennu indicative of a rubble pile with internal stiffness.

    O Barnouin;M Daly;E Palmer

  • Dynamics of Orbits Close to Asteroid 4179 Toutatis

    D. J. Scheeres;S. J. Ostro;R. S. Hudson;E. M. DeJong

  • Formation of asteroid pairs by rotational fission

    P. Pravec;D. Vokrouhlický;D. Polishook;D. J. Scheeres

  • Evaluation of the Dynamic Environment of an Asteroid: Applications to 433 Eros

    D. J. Scheeres;B. G. Williams;J. K. Miller

  • Estimating the Mass of Asteroid 253 Mathilde from Tracking Data During the NEAR Flyby

    D. K. Yeomans;J.-P. Barriot;J.-P. Barriot;J.-P. Barriot;D. W. Dunham;D. W. Dunham;D. W. Dunham;R. W. Farquhar;R. W. Farquhar;R. W. Farquhar

  • Rotational fission of contact binary asteroids

    D.J. Scheeres

Frequent Co-Authors

Dante S. Lauretta
Dante S. Lauretta University of Arizona
Olivier S. Barnouin
Olivier S. Barnouin Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Steven J. Ostro
Steven J. Ostro Jet Propulsion Lab
Naru Hirata
Naru Hirata University of Aizu
William F. Bottke
William F. Bottke Southwest Research Institute
Erik Asphaug
Erik Asphaug University of Arizona
David Vokrouhlický
David Vokrouhlický Charles University
Jason P. Dworkin
Jason P. Dworkin Goddard Space Flight Center
Harold C. Connolly
Harold C. Connolly Rowan University
Francesco Marzari
Francesco Marzari University of Padua

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