The spin-orbit problem in celestial mechanics describes the motion of an oblate satellite moving on a Keplerian orbit around a primary body. We apply the conjugate points criterion for the nonexistence of rotational invariant tori. We treat both the conservative case and a case including a dissipative effect modeling a tidal torque generated by internal nonrigidity. As a by-product of the conjugate points criterion we obtain a global view of the dynamics, thanks to the introduction of a tangent orbit indicator, which allows us to discern the dynamical character of the motion. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.