Stability, instability, and terminal attitude motion of spinning, dissipative spacecraft

Abstract

This paper deals with the following questions: What is the physical significance of the words ''stability and as used in connection with attitude motions of a spacecraft carrying a passive nutation damper? What is the nature of the terminal motion of the spacecraft? To answer these questions, stability criteria are formulated in analytical terms, numerical integrations of differential equations governing system behavior are performed, and both qualitative and quantitative descriptions of terminal motions are formulated. Numerical results are displayed in the form of time-plots of the angle between a spacecraft-fixed line and a space-fixed line, and these reveal that instability may be attributable to a variety of causes and may manifest itself in a variety of ways. Two types of terminal motion associated with instabilities arising from energy dissipation are discussed in detail.