how critical is passive stability?

Wouldn't the stability "problem" drive the habitat configurations to
favor the toroidal habitats -- or very short cylinders?
Shep

>
> > Ah, yes, you speak of the shifting of weights inside
> > the cylinder. That's a completely different horse.
>
> Alas, no, that's not the issue I refer to either. This tendency
of rotating objects to rotate around the axis with the largest
moment of inertia applies perfectly well to rigid bodies. (Like the
rattleback, for example, though the perturbations there come from
contact with the surface it's resting on, so obviously the situation
in space is slightly different.)
>
> > We are discussing a multi mega ton gyroscope, eh? How
> > could the actions of a flea walking around inside it
> > cause it to wobble?
>
> It would not. But if the multi mega ton gyroscope has I_x or I_y
> I_z, then it's going to end up rotating around axis x or y rather
than (the desired axis) z, absent some active attitude control.
Exactly how big a problem this is, and how much attitude control
will be required, is the question I'm hoping to address.