David Perry Rubincam (born February 27, 1947) is an American geophysicist known for his work in solid-earth geophysics, planetary geodynamics, and celestial mechanics. He worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) from 1978 until his retirement in 2018,
Education and career
Rubincam earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1973. He also contributed to understanding long-term planetary climate oscillations, including Milankovitch cycles.
In 2006, he co-authored a widely cited review on the Yarkovsky effect and YORP, summarizing their implications for asteroid dynamics. Rubincam retired from NASA in 2018.
Honors and memberships
Rubincam is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 2015, the International Astronomical Union named the asteroid 9921 Rubincam after him for his work on radiation recoil effects on asteroids. He resides in Lanham, Maryland.
Selected publications
- Rubincam, D. P. (2000). "Radiative spin-up and spin-down of small asteroids." Icarus, 148(1), 2–11. doi:10.1006/icar.2000.6485.
- Bottke, W. F., Vokrouhlický, D., Rubincam, D. P., & Nesvorný, D. (2006). "The Yarkovsky and YORP effects: Implications for asteroid dynamics." Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 34, 157–191. doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.34.031405.125154.
- Rubincam, D. P. (2004). "Black body temperature, orbital elements, the Milankovitch precession index, and the Seversmith psychroterms." Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 79(1–2), 111–131. doi:10.1007/s00704-004-0056-5.