Attitude dynamics of rigid bodies in the vicinity of Lagrangian points

The attitude dynamics of the satellite in a planar Lyapunov orbit are studied. The orbital motion of the spacecraft is described using a rotating orbital frame with its origin and the axis points. The relationship between the body frame with respect to the orbital frame is described in terms of a 3-2-1 pitch, roll, and yaw rational sequence. The rigid spacecraft when occupies a Lyapunov or vertical Lyapunov orbit, the gravity gradient toques it experiences are functions of the amplitudes and frequencies of the orbits as well its inertia ratio. Analysis of the linear attitude equations showed that the critical values of inertia ratio can trigger large attitude motions for a spacecraft traveling in a Lyapunov orbit. It has been observed that resonant motion of the spacecraft in planar Lyapunov orbits is independent of the size of the orbit. It is seen that that greater pitch and yaw motions are encountered as the size of the Lyapunov orbit increases.