The moon is ever so slowly moving farther from the earth (something like an inch or so per year, I've heard). How long before life as we know it is negatively affected? How long until the moon is no longer a satellite? Are other planets' moons doing the same? Could we realistically (and safely) nudge the moon back to a nearer orbit by placing (on the "dark side" of the moon) columns from which rocket bursts could be set off to propell it?
2007-01-07 13:58:09 · 6 answers · asked by The Invisible Man 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Get Real---See my questions! I have one just like that!!! (If we all sat down, would it rotate faster?)
Gebobs---Darn, that was my next question: Does the moon's presence speed or slow the earth's rotation?
2007-01-07 14:13:20 · update #1
How long before life as we know it is negatively affected? -- millions of yeas in the future. No time soon
How long until the moon is no longer a satellite? -- The moon will always be our satellite just it will be a lot further away. The moon is never going to completely escape our gravity.
Are other planets' moons doing the same? -- No they are not. That has to do with the way our moon was created which is cause it to drift away.
Could we realistically (and safely) nudge the moon back to a nearer orbit by placing (on the "dark side" of the moon) columns from which rocket bursts could be set off to propell it? -- Realistically no. The size of the moon is just to great for us to move
2007-01-08 03:01:58 · answer #1 · answered by M Series 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The moon is much much bigger than you think, obviously.
It is many millions of trillions of tonnes - check in Wikipedia.
There is nothing that humans have invented that could move an object a millionth the size of the moon.
And the earth is about 100 times the mass of the moon, so forget being able to move the Earth.
The earth is 20 trillion times the mass of all the people on it, so we influence it not at all - about like a colony of fleas on Mt Everest.
All the people in the world could stand shoulder to should in an area 20 miles by 20 miles. We are nothing compared with the Earth's mass.
And the sun is 330,000 times the mass of Earth.
2007-01-07 14:43:19 · answer #2 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
particularly they is a great form of communicate some comparable thought. It seems that there is a great form of He-3 on the moon. This He-3 ought to used to construct a fusion rocket to do the best issues you suggested yet extra perfect. He-3 has a some distance better potential density and subsequently it may be a extra perfect selection for a rocket.
2016-11-27 03:02:30 · answer #3 · answered by woolf 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's receding at a few centimeters per year. Nothing to be alarmed about. Incidentally, with the recession, the rotation of the Earth is slowing. Days 400 million years ago were about 22 hours long and each year had around 400 days.
2007-01-07 14:07:45 · answer #4 · answered by gebobs 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've always wondered if we had all the cars in the world on the east coast of all the continents and slowly accelerated them all heading west up to 100 miles an hr. and slammed on their brakes all at once if the world's spin would slow down any.
2007-01-07 14:06:53 · answer #5 · answered by Get Real 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Theoretically, but not practically.
2007-01-07 14:00:56 · answer #6 · answered by Jerry P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋