Q: How can I arrange multiple bodies in space?
REV 5.05

A: This is perhaps one of the more difficult tasks which one has to perform in MOSES. The simple answer is that you use the &INSTATE command. You need to specify the location and orientation of each body. There are several different ways of doing this, but perhaps the easiest to see is:

&INSTATE -LOC BOD1 X1, Y1, Z1, RX1, RY1, RZ1 \

-LOC BOD2 X2, Y2, Z2, RX2, RY2, RZ2

Here, we are specifying the global location of the body origin of each body with the coordinates X1, Y1, ... Z2. To specify the orientation, we specify the Euler angles of each body, RX1, ... RZ2. Each of these are successive rotations. These are defined by first assuming the global and body systems are aligned. One first rotates the body about the body Z axis an amount RZ, and then rotates it about the body Y axis an amount RY, and finally about the body X axis an amount RX. At the conclusion, the body is properly positioned in space.