Quaternions
In space and astronautical engineering, quaternions are a mathematical tool used to represent the orientation of a spacecraft or satellite. They are a four-dimensional extension of complex numbers and can be used to avoid the problems of gimbal lock that can occur with other methods of representing orientation. Quaternions are used in spacecraft attitude control systems, which are responsible for maintaining the correct orientation of a spacecraft in space. They are also used in simulations of spacecraft dynamics and in trajectory planning.
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