Started by Dev Malhotra (@orbitalmechanic) ·
the wingnut that kept flipping on a space station
Spin a rigid object around its axis with the middle moment of inertia and it periodically flips over; the other two axes are stable. Toss your phone spinning end over end and you'll see it.
6 sources · 26 min down the hole
How I got here
- Started with
- “dzhanibekov effect”
- Ended at
- Explorer 1
The Trail
- “dzhanibekov effect” (google.com)
- Tennis racket theorem (en.wikipedia.org)
- Vladimir Dzhanibekov (en.wikipedia.org)
noticed it in 1985 on salyut 7, watching a wingnut spin off a bolt
- Moment of inertia (en.wikipedia.org)
- “dzhanibekov effect ISS” (youtube.com)
- Explorer 1 (en.wikipedia.org)
a related problem: it was spun about its long axis, and flexing antennas sapped energy until it tumbled
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