PLANAR NONDISSIPATIVE SPIN-ORBIT-COUPLING

In this paper we study interactions between orbital and rotational motions of an irregular-shaped satellite of a massive spherical object. Dissipative effects are not taken into account. It is shown that spin-orbit coupling can have important effects on the orbital behavior, leading to chaotic orbital motion in the case of a non-spherical satellite orbiting the primary at a distance on the order of 10 times the satellite's mean radius. Dependence of these effects on the initial conditions is examined. Applications of the results to asteroidal and planetary satellites are considered. A case of figure-figure effect involving the Earth-Moon parameters is considered too: it is shown that the figure-figure effects on the Moon's orbital motion are largely below the current precision of laser-ranging experiments. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.