The Bizarre Behaviour Of Rotating Bodies (opens in new tab)

What you are looking at is known as the Dzhanibekov effect or the tennis racket theorem or the intermediate axis theorem. It involves arguably the best mathematician alive, Soviet era secrets, and the end of the world. So in 1985, cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov was tasked with saving the Soviet space station Salyut 7 which had completely shut down. The mission was so dramatic that the Russians made a movie out of it in 2017 and after rescuing the space station, Dzhanibekov unpacked supplies...