Abstract
THE examination of the effect of external couples upon the rotational motion of artificial Earth satellites has been of interest, in view of the rapidity with which their instantaneous axes of rotation have been observed to approach the axis of greatest moment, even when they have been initially spun about the axis of least moment. In this particular problem the role of internal energy dissipation due to non-rigidity may in fact be important, but, setting this aside, the theorem set out below appears relevant. This states a well-known principle and many of its corollaries have been proved; however, I have been unable to trace any direct reference to the proposition, or its converse, and would be grateful if any reader could do so.
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NONWEILER, T. Effect of a Resisting Couple on the Rotational Motion of a Rigid Body. Nature 187, 311 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/187311a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/187311a0
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