The general problem of attitude motion

Several rigorously valid approaches to de-coupling the rotational dynamics are presented. The attitude motion is studied both at large and slightly perturbed. The motion at large is analyzed using the Lyapunov function formulations. The exact analytical boundaries and asymptotic behavior of the angular velocity vector are characterized when the motion is excited by a wide range of torques, including time varying and not aligned with any principal axis. The perturbed attitude motion is examined both via the Lyapunov spectrum mechanism and the first order analysis. They are applied to the near-intermediate axis spin in particular. Domain of validity of the approximate analytical solutions obtained is defined by the sensitivity analysis of the Jacobian eigenvalues and eigenvectots. The results obtained are extensively verified by a number of numerical simulations.