Exact analytical attitude error kinematic equations for most of the known attitude representations are derived. Consequently, these attitude error kinematic models hold for arbitrarily large relative rotations and rotation rates. These attitude errors represent instantaneous departures from a general, smooth reference attitude motion. Numerical integrations of these kinematic equations are performed to validate the machine error accuracy for each attitude representation. Several attitude parameterizations are compared by solving a nonlinear spacecraft tracking problem. Markley has considered different attitude error representations for estimating the state of a maneuvering spacecraft. He has clarified the relationship between the four-component quaternion representation of attitude and the multiplicative extended Kalman filter.