The orbital motion of a tetrahedral gyrostat

The orbital motion of a gyrostat whose mass distribution admits of the symmetry group of a regular tetrahedron is examined. The equations of motion and their first integrals are presented. The order of the equations of motion is reduced using a Routh–Lyapunov approach. The reduced potential and the equations for its critical points are presented. Some solutions of these equations are indicated, and a mechanical interpretation of the steady motions corresponding to them is given. Equations of motion similar to the well known equations of relative motion of a gyrostat in an elliptical orbit in the satellite approximation are derived assuming that the dimensions of the body are small compared with its distance from the attracting centre. A three-dimensional analogue of Beletskii's equation that relies on the use of the true anomaly as the independent variable is presented. Three classes of steady configurations are determined by Routh's method in the case of a circular orbit, and the conditions for their stability are investigated.