Chaotic attitude motion of gyrostat statellites in a central force field

The nonlinear attitude motion of gyrostat satellites in a central force field is investigated, with particular emphasis on their long-time dynamic behavior for a wide range of parameters. The numbers of equilibrium solutions, as well as their stability, vary with the rotor speed, and bifurcation diagrams have been obtained. Various dynamic behaviors of gyrostat satcllites, e.g. periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic, are studied via the Poincaré map technique. It is shown that the rotor speed has a significant effect on the dynamic behavior of gyrostat satellites.