<h2>AAS  96-178</h2><h2>A VARIATION OF PARAMETERS APPROACH FOR THE SOLUTION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS FOR THE ROTATIONAL MOTION OF A RIGID BODY</h2><h4>V. R. Bond, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Space and Defense Systems</h4><h2> Abstract </h2>The approach taken in this paper for the solution of the general case of rigid body motion is to develop the analytical solution of Euler's equations for the symmetric, torque-free case and then to use the three constants of integration as the new dependent variables. Lagrange's method of variation of parameters is then used to develop differential equations for the new dependent variables. The applied torques and the apparent torques due to the asymmetry of the rigid body are considered as perturbations. The new dependent variables are slowly varying compared to the components of the angular velocity.<br><br>